MARSHALL, Minn. – Aeron Stevens scored a career-high 31 points, while in the process becoming the 30^th player in team history to reach 1,000 career points, to pace Southwest Minnesota State to a 90-46 victory over Minnesota Crookston in Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference men's basketball on Saturday night in front of nearly 2,000 fans on 'Tropical Night'.  
 
SMSU pushed its winning streak to six in a row to improve to 14-5 overall and remains in the first place in the NSIC with a 12-2 record.
 
Stevens, playing in his 79^th career game, closed the game making 10 of 16 field goals with three 3-pointers, while also grabbing a game-high eight rebounds. Isaiah Schafer made 5 of 7 3-pointers in the second half to pour in a career-high 15 points, while Jakob Braaten (11) and Mekhi Shaw (10) also finished in double figure scoring.
 
The Mustangs, which never trailed in the game, finished the night shooting 48 percent (32 of 67) from the field with 13 3-pointers on 29 attempts. SMSU dominated the glass holding a 47-34 advantage and limited UMC to 31 percent (17 of 55) shooting from the field.
 
SMSU also finished with a season-low six turnovers, while forcing UMC into 13 turnovers.  
 
UMC, which earned a victory at Sioux Falls on Friday night, drops to 4-16 overall, 2-12 NSIC. Donez Lindsey led the Golden Eagles with 11 points with three 3-pointers.
 
SMSU held an early 11-10 advantage before using strong defense to spark a 16-3 run over a 7:34 stretch to extend the lead to 27-13 with six minutes left in the half. UMC was held to 26 percent shooting in the opening 20 minutes as SMSU extended the margin to 37-20 at the break.
 
The Mustangs scored the first eight points of the second half and were never threatened again in improving to 38-5 all-time versus the Golden Eagles.
 
Leading 49-27 with 16:24 left in the game, SMSU used an 18-0 run over a 5:27 stretch to make the score 67-27 midway through the half.
 
Stevens reached the 1,000-point milestone with 11:57 remaining in the game.
 
SMSU will now hit the road for four big games over the next two weekends starting with a 7:30 p.m. match-up at the University of Jamestown on Friday, Jan. 30.