MARSHALL, Minn. – The Southwest Minnesota State men's basketball team (15-10, 13-7 NSIC) dropped a crucial NSIC South Division battle with the Concordia-St. Paul Golden Bears (18-8, 13-7 NSIC) 78-69 Saturday evening in the R/A Facility.
 
The Mustangs were led in scoring by Mekhi Shaw with 18 points, shooting 6 of 13 from the field and 4 of 5 from the charity stripe. Micah Schlaak added 13 points and six rebounds. Jakob Braaten scored 11 points while leading the team in rebounds with seven, and assists with six. Landon Pokorski had 10 points, and Calvin Buss led the team in blocks with three.
 
As a team SMSU shot 48 percent from the field (26 of 54) and 38 percent from deep (11 of 29). The Mustangs led the game in rebounds 32-31, however the Golden Bears forced 14 turnovers compared to the Mustangs forcing just eight. CSP, led by Reid Patterson with 21 points, shot 47 percent from the floor (28 of 60) and 43 percent from downtown (14 of 32).
 
In the first half the Mustangs were the more efficient team shooting, making 52 percent of the shots from the floor (13 of 25). However, the Golden Bears shot 42 percent from 3-point range, making three more of those shots than the Mustangs. CSP's Ben Kopetzki led the way in the first half with 14 of his 20 points in the game shooting 4 of 7 from deep. The Golden Bears capitalized off SMSU turnovers in the first half, leading in points off turnovers 9-2, and second chance points 5-0, leading at the half 36-34. Mekhi Shaw had 11 points at the half for SMSU.
 
CSP was once again lethal from beyond the arc in the second half, shooting 46 percent from those shots (6 of 13). With the game at 44-41 favoring the Golden Bears, CSP went on a 8-0 scoring run, eventually bringing the game to a 15-point deficit for SMSU to recover from. Coach Bigler's team continued to fight through adversity, and after a pair of 3-pointers in quick succession, SMSU had shortened CSP's lead to eight points with under two minutes to go. The Golden Bears however were able to capitalize on late free throws to put the game away 78-69.
 
SMSU is back in the R/A Facility next Thursday, Feb. 19, against Augustana at 7:30 for Senior Night.