MARSHALL, Minn. – Southwest Minnesota State used a balanced scoring attack with Micah Schlaak pouring in a team-high 17 points to earn a 72-60 victory over Minot State in NSIC men's college basketball on Friday night inside the R/A Facility.
 
SMSU picked up its third straight victory and remains in first place in the conference standings with a 9-2 league mark and moves to 11-5 overall.
 
MSU drops to 8-9 overall, 5-6 NSIC. Darik Dissette led the Beavers with 18 points and eight rebounds.
 
SMSU never trailed in the game and built a 25-point lead early in the second half but MSU would not go away cutting the deficit to 10 points late in the game before the Mustangs sealed the deal.
 
SMSU shot 52 percent (25 of 48) from the field and made 10 3-pointers, but finished making just 12 of 21 free throws, including 8 of 17 in the second half.
 
MSU was limited to 26 percent shooting in the opening half and closed the game shooting 40 percent (23 of 57), including 4 of 21 from 3-point range.
 
Mason Lund (14) and Mekhi Shaw (12) both finished in double figure scoring for the Mustangs, while Jakob Braaten added eight points with six rebounds and four assists.
 
SMSU opened the game with seven straight points in building a quick double-digit advantage and never trailed for the third straight game.
 
The Mustangs held a 13-7 lead before Brayson Boike drilled a 3-pointer to spark a 10-2 run capped by a Lund layup to push the lead to 23-9 with 10:39 left in the half.
 
SMSU maintained a 23-11 advantage midway through the half before Schlaak scored a field goal to start a 14-3 run over a seven-minute stretch to expand the lead to 37-14 before taking a 39-16 lead into the break.
 
SMSU scored the first two points of the second half before MSU rallied with a 13-1 spurt to keep in the game. Shaw stopped the run with a 3-pointer and was followed by a Calvin Buss dunk to make the score 47-29 in favor of the Mustangs with 15 minutes remaining.
 
MSU however came right back and scored eight straight points to cut the deficit to 47-37 with 13 minutes left in the game.
 
Lund hit a big field goal for the Mustangs and was followed by a 3-pointer by Schlaak to put SMSU in front at 52-37 with 11:30 remaining. Schlaak would later drill a 3-pointer to start a 7-0 spurt to put SMSU in front at 59-40 with eight minutes left.
 
SMSU continues the weekend hosting UMary on Saturday starting at 5 p.m.