Region Champs! Mustangs Lock Up Spot in Elite Eight with Win Over Augustana
Box Score
MARSHALL, Minn. - Senior Andy Beilke poured in a career-high 25 points to lead No. 1 seed Southwest Minnesota State to a 73-60 victory over No. 7 seed Augustana in the Central Region championship game Tuesday night in Marshall. The Mustangs now advance to the NCAA Elite Eight in Springfield, Mass., where SMSU will play either Cal Poly-Pamona or BYU-Hawaii on March 25 at 2:30 p.m. EDT.
Beilke was named the tournament's most outstanding player. He was joined on the all-tournament team by teammates Ryan Krome and Ross DeMasi, along with Augustana's David Foster and Mike Klepatz.
SMSU, ranked No. 12 in the nation, improves to 28-6, while Augie finishes its season with a 21-10 record. SMSU has now won 18 of its last 19 games.
"The best thing I can do is say that these seniors and group of guy that we have in our program, I could not be more happy for a group of young men for the way they committed themselves to each other," SMSU head coach Greg Stemen said. "Someone asked me one time, 'who’s your star?' and I said we don’t have stars, we have teammates and that’s what these guys are and they lead by example. I want to congratulate Augustana on a great season; they are a very, very good basketball team. I’m very impressed with them. I couldn’t be more happy for this group of kids."
The 28 wins ties a school record for victories in a single season. the 2001 squad, which also advanced to the Elite Eight, finished with an overall record of 28-7.
Beilke was spectacular in the victory, connecting on 7 of 12 field goals, including 5 of 9 three-pointers and going 6 of 6 from the line. Ryan Krome added 11 points, while Ross DeMasi added six points and a game-high 11 rebounds.
Lee Stephens' 12 points and seven rebounds led Augie.
The Vikings held a slight lead for the opening eight minutes of the contest. But the host Mustangs showed why they were the region's top-seed team, building themselves an eight-point lead at 23-15 with just under ten minute left in the first half. SMSU would then go cold from the field as they were held scoreless for the next five mintues as Augie rallied with eight straight points to tie the game at 23-23 with 4:18 left in the half. Beilke then stepped up again as he drilled a three-pointer, one of three he connected on in the opening half to snap the Mustang scoreless string. The field goal helped spark a 11-4 run to close out the half as SMSU settled on 34-27 lead heading into the locker room.
"First off all it’s hard to see your season end, in the game of basketball you almost always end your season with a loss," said Augustana head coach Tom Billeter. "They played their tails off they’re (SMSU) a very tough-hardnosed team. They play well together; they’ve got a solid program. Coach Stemen and his staff have done a great job. The tournament was well run and was a great experience."
SMSU opened the second half scoring the first five points to build a 39-27 lead just two minutes into the second half. Augie would not go away and chipped at the lead and cut the deficit to 47-42 with nine minutes remaining in the game on two free throws by Eric Krogman.
The Mustang defense, which has been among the best in the country this season, stepped up again as over the next two and a half minutes the Vikings were held to just two points as the Mustangs opened the lead to 54-44 with seven minutes left in the game on a three-pointer by Beilke.
The Vikings put together one last charge, once again cutting the lead to five points at 54-49 with 5:42 remaining, but that was as close as they would come as the Mustangs answered with a 9-0 run over the next three minutes to seal the victory. Krome drilled a field goal with 5:24 left to make the score 56-49, and two minutes later Taylor Huseby made two free throws to push the lead to 58-49 with three minutes and four seconds remaining. Krome made another basket with 2:38 remaining, before Beilked capped the game-clinching run with another three-pointer to give SMSU a 63-49 lead with 1:52 on the clock.
SMSU, now a perfect 6-0 all-time in regional games, shot 42.6 percent from the field (26 of 61) and made seven of 17 three-point field goal attempts. Augustana finished game shooting 36 percent from the field (18 of 50) and was just three of 10 from three-point range.
The Mustangs held a 38-34 rebound advantage and forced the Vikings into 12 turnovers, while committing just eight.
