MARSHALL — On a road trip down to Fayette, Iowa over the weekend, the Southwest Minnesota State University mens basketball team picked up a quality run and suffered a gut-wrenching loss. The Mustangs defeated Northwest Missouri State on Saturday to avenge a loss in the first round of last year’s NCAA tournament but fell 79-78 to Upper Iowa in the final seconds of overtime on Sunday.

Saturday’s win over Northwest Missouri State was the Mustangs’ second consecutive revenge-tour victory after they had defeated Minnesota State earlier in the week.

Northwest Missouri and Minnesota State were the last two teams to defeat the Mustangs last year, as Minnesota State ended SMSU’s Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference Tournament run with a 68-67 loss in the tournament semifinals and Northwest ended the Mustangs’ season with a 73-43 blowout in the first round of the NCAA Central Region Tournament. 

SMSU 68, NWMS 56

The Mustangs pulled ahead early in their Saturday game against Northwest Missouri State and never looked back, claiming a 68-56 win.

The Bearcats scored the game’s first points of the game on a Spencer Schomers 3-pointer, but Aeron Stevens answered on the other end to tie up the game. A pair of Omot free throws and a Stevens layup gave SMSU a 7-3 lead and, after a Schomers tip-in, Steven Kramer hit a midrange jumper. Northwest Missouri never had the ball with an opportunity to tie or take the lead for the remainder of the game.

Jakob Braaten was the driving force in the win for SMSU. In addition to scoring 19 points on 13 shots, his eight rebounds were second only to Stevens’ nine and his three steals were a game-high.

In addition to Braaten and Stevens, Kramer grabbed seven boards while Mason Lund added another five to help SMSU to a 28-26 rebounding advantage and a 16-5 advantage in second-chance points. 

Not only did SMSU score more second-chance points, but they were more efficient with the opportunities, getting theirs on 15 offensive rebounds compared to 10 offensive boards for Northwest Missouri.

A Mekhi Shaw jumper gave SMSU its largest lead of the first half, 30-16, with four minutes to play. Yet, a pair of 3-pointers from Padraig Gallagher and Schomers and a Luke Mustakas free throw gave the Bearcats a 7-0 run in the final 76 seconds of the half to make it a 32-26 game at the half.

Gallagher made it a 9-0 run when he hit a layup to score the first points of the second half. Five minutes later, a Marcus Glock 3-pointer and a Ja’Vion Byers jumper cut SMSU’s lead to 40-37, but Calvin Buss responded with a layup of his own and Braaten followed up with another to keep SMSU’s lead at 5 points or more for the remainder of the game.

The Mustangs recorded eight steals compared to Northwest Missouri’s four and turned those into a 17-8 advantage in points off turnovers. In addition to Braaten, Lund recorded another three steals on the day while Shaw had another two. Shaw was also one of four Mustangs with a block in the match along with Omot, Buss and Caleb Schlaak.

Quality free throw shooting and avoiding foul trouble were key factors for the Mustangs. While SMSU shot 37.5% from the field and 4 of 23 from beyond the arc (17.4%), they shot 16 of 19 from the free throw line. Northwest Missouri outshot SMSU from the field (38.3%) and from 3 (8 of 28, 28.6%), but shot 2 of 5 from the free-throw line.

Stevens contributed 14 points in the win while Kramer and Shaw each added another 10. Omot struggled on the day, shooting 0 of 11 from the field and 0 of 7 from 3.

Schomers led Northwest Missouri with 15 points on 14 shots, as well as a team-high eight rebounds and two blocks. 

UI 79, SMSU 78 (OT)

Southwest Minnesota State’s hopes for a perfect season came to an end on Sunday when Upper Iowa edged past SMSU in overtime, 79-78. 

SMSU’s 4-0 start prior to Sunday’s loss marked its most consecutive wins to start a season since the 2016-17 season, when SMSU won each of its first six games. SMSU went on to the NCAA Tournament Central  Region Final that season, losing 55-52 to the eventual national champion Northwest Missouri State Bearcats.

SMSU trailed by as many as 9 points in the second half, 55-44 with 15:22 to play, but the Mustangs stormed back with a pair of Aeron Stevens free throws giving the team a 67-66 lead with five minutes to play.

With a minute left in regulation, Noah King hit a 3-pointer to give Upper Iowa a 71-68 lead. Yet, Jacob Braaten hit a free throw with 10 seconds left, missed the second and Mason Lund got the offensive rebound to set up Braaten’s tying layup with 1 second on the clock. SMSU forced a five-second violation to get the ball back but Lund’s jumper at the buzzer was blocked by Nick Reid, sending the game to overtime tied up at 71-71.

Gavin Hershberger gave the Peacocks an early lead in overtime with a quick 3-pointer but a pair of Stevens free throws and a pair of Braaten layups gave SMSU a 77-75 lead with three minutes remaining.

With 40 seconds left in the game, King hit a layup to make it a 1-point game and a pair of Reid free throws gave the Peacocks a 79-78 lead with 11 seconds left. Mekhi Shaw got off a look in the paint at the buzzer, but Reid came up with another game-saving block for the Peacocks to seal the victory for Upper Iowa.

SMSU finished with a 47-45 advantage on the glass, thanks in large part to Mason Lund’s 17 rebounds. The mark was a large jump ahead of his previous career-high of 10, which he most recently achieved on Jan. 6 against St. Cloud State.

While Stevens and Braaten also grabbed seven and six rebounds respectively, SMSU struggled on the offensive glass. Upper Iowa held a 23-12 advantage in offensive rebounding with a 21-9 advantage in second-chance points. Reid and Lund each had four offensive boards in the game while Upper Iowa’s Ryan Heise and Jack Miller each added another three.

Braaten again led the SMSU scoring efforts, tying Stevens with a team-high 20 points. Braaten shot 8 of 12 from the field and 4 of 6 from the charity stripe while Stevens went 7 of 13 and 6 of 8. Neither attempted a 3-pointer in the game as SMSU went 0 of 6 from beyond the arc, marking the end of a 752-game streak with at least one 3-pointer for the Mustangs dating back to December 1998.

Despite the lack of spacing from 3, SMSU was efficient with its shots, going 50% from the field with 52 points in the paint. Steven Kramer also chipped in 15 points on 6 of 10 from the floor.

King led the Peacocks’ scoring efforts with 28 points on 11 of 26 shooting with six 3-pointers. Reid also added 18 points on 5 of 13 shooting with a team-high nine rebounds and three blocks.

On the defensive end for SMSU, Lund blocked a pair of shots while Braaten blocked another. Kramer finished with a team-high two steals but SMSU lost the turnover battle 13-10.

Stevens dunked with eight seconds left in the first half to send SMSU into the locker room with a 40-39 lead. While the Mustangs led at the break, they trailed for the bulk of the first half. The largest lead of the first half was 6 for Upper Iowa and neither team led by more than 2 points in the final seven minutes of the half.

Now 4-1 on the season, SMSU will kick off Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference Play against Wayne State tonight at 7:30 p.m. Wayne State is currently a perfect 5-0 on the season, with two of their wins coming by exactly 1 point and the other three each coming by double digits. Wayne State defeated SMSU 73-62 when the teams met in Wayne, Neb. last season.