MARSHALL, Minn. – The Southwest Minnesota State University men's basketball team secured a first-round bye in the upcoming Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference Tournament shooting a-near school record 68 percent from the field in securing an 86-67 victory over Augustana University on Thursday night inside the R/A Facility.
 
SMSU, which moves into sole possession of third place in the league standings, improves to 14-7 in NSIC play and 16-10 overall. AU, currently one-game ahead of SMSU in the standings, drops to 17-9 overall, 15-6 NSIC.
 
SMSU finished the night shooting 67.9 percent (36 of 53) from the field, including 11 of 18 from 3-point range. The Mustangs closed the second half shooting 78 percent (21 of 27) from the field.
 
The 67.9 percent field goal shooting is just shy of the school single-game record of 68.4 percent (39 of 57) set on Feb. 2, 1993, versus MSU Moorhead.
 
The win also snapped a nine-game home losing streak for SMSU versus AU, earning its first home win since Dec. 6, 2013. It was also just the second win overall in the series dating back to Jan. 4, 2019.
 
Mekhi Shaw led the Mustangs with a game-high 22 points while recording five assists, three rebounds and two steals. Aeron Stevens made 7 of 14 field goals with a pair of 3-pointers to finish the game with 16 points. Micah Schlaak poured in 14 points with four 3-pointers and grabbed a game-high seven rebounds. Jakob Braaten also scored in double figures with 13 points, while adding five rebounds and five assists.
 
Tameron Ferguson led the Vikings with 18 points and six assists. Augustana finished the game a perfect 14 of 14 from the free throw line and committed just six turnovers.
 
SMSU held a 26-18 rebound advantage while committing seven turnovers.
 
SMSU, which held the lead for 36 minutes, built its largest lead of the opening 20 minutes midway through the half at 21-15 following 3-pointers by Stevens and Brayson Boike. SMSU would maintain the lead until just under two minutes left in the half before AU would take a short-lived 33-32 advantage with 1:25 remaining. Schlaak would answer with a 3-pointer at the 1:09 mark to give SMSU a 35-33 halftime lead.
 
The game was tied at 37 with 18 minutes left in the game before Mason Lund and Landon Pokorski drilled back-to-back 3-pointers to give the Mustangs a six-point lead and SMSU would not trail again.
 
The lead moved to double digits with 13:28 left following a dunk by Calvin Buss off an assist from Stevens.
 
AU would not go away and pulled to within 65-57 with seven minutes remaining, but a jumper and two free throws by Braaten extended the lead to 69-57. Following two free throws by AU to make the score 69-59 with 5:38 left in the game, the Mustangs put the game away with 10 straight points highlighted by 3-pointers by Stevens and Shaw.
 
Tonight's game was the final home appearance for SMSU seniors Braaten, Lund, Luke Stevens and Caleb Schlaak.
 
SMSU, which closes the home season 10-2, will look to earn its second straight victory on Saturday afternoon with the regular season finale at Wayne State. Game time slated is for 3 p.m. in Wayne, Neb.