MANKATO, Minn. – The Southwest Minnesota State men's basketball team suffered another close road loss on Saturday afternoon with Minnesota State holding off a late Mustang comeback attempt in earning a 74-71 victory in NSIC action inside the Taylor Center.
 
MSU, which earned its 10^th straight victory, avenges a loss to SMSU in December and is now 17-9 overall, 11-7 NSIC.
 
SMSU had a chance to tie the game on its last possession, but Mekhi Shaw's 3-pointer failed to connect with two seconds remaining. It's the third time in the four-game skid where SMSU had a chance to tie or win the game with a 3-pointer at the final buzzer.
 
The Mustangs' Jakob Braaten led all scorers with 18 points on 7 of 10 shooting with seven rebounds, six assists and two steals. Micah Schlaak recorded SMSU's first double-double of the season with 13 points and 10 rebounds. Aeron Stevens and Shaw both finished in double figure scoring with 12 points each. Isaiah Schafer and Landon Pokorski both closed with six points with two 3-pointers apiece.
 
MSU had five players score in double figures with Traijan Sain pouring in 15 points with three 3-pointers, including a big 3-pointer with less than a minute remaining.  
 
SMSU finished the game shooting 46 percent (27 of 59), including 9 of 29 from 3-point range. MSU closed shooting 46 percent (28 of 61) from the field, while making 11 of 31 from 3-point land. The Mavericks also held a 37-34 rebound advantage.
 
SMSU trailed 61-47 with 10 minutes left in the game before Mason Lund and Stevens hit two field goals, while Braaten and Schafer each drilled 3-pointers to cap a 10-4 run to cut the deficit to 65-57 with 6:15 remaining.
 
SMSU would later use a 10-2 run with 3-pointers by Shaw and Schafer to trim the MSU lead to 69-67 with 2:23 on the clock.
 
The teams traded field goals before Sain came through with a big 3-pointer with 54 seconds remaining to give the Mavericks a 74-69 advantage. Braaten quickly answered with a field goal and the SMSU defense got the stop on defense it needed, but Shaw's 3-pointer attempt at the buzzer failed to connect.
 
The game was tight in the opening 12 minutes with Shaw hitting a jumper to give SMSU a 19-17 advantage. MSU would move back in front with a 9-3 run and a 28-26 lead with 1:43 left following a Schlaak jumper. The Mavericks however closed the half on a 9-2 run to build a 37-28 halftime advantage.
 
Schlaak and Pokorski started the second half with back-to-back 3-pointers to cut the MSU lead to 37-34, but the Mavericks countered using a 14-3 spark to push the margin to 51-37 at the 15:50 mark. MSU would later build its largest lead of the game at 58-43 with just under 12 minutes left before SMSU countered with its comeback effort.
 
SMSU, with four big regular season games remaining, will return home for three straight games inside the R/A Facility starting on Thursday with a 7:30 p.m. match-up versus Winona State.