Photo by Jake McNeill: Southwest Minnesota State University guard Dunwa Omot slams home a dunk during a mens basketball game against Sioux Falls on Saturday at the R/A Facilitiy in Marshall.

MARSHALL — The Southwest Minnesota State mens basketball team overcame Marshall-native Noah Puetz’s career-high 28 points for Sioux Falls on Saturday afternoon as the Mustangs pulled away in the second half for an 84-72 win over the Cougars. The win gives SMSU an extra bit of momentum as it heads into the winter break.

“This is one of those games where otherwise, you sit and think about it way too much, even though it’s just one game,” SMSU head coach Brad Bigler said, adding that he challenged his players in the locker room to continue to find ways to improve if they really want to be champions. “How we go about our ownership of everything, getting extra shots, doing all the little weights, getting our reps and doing everything that we can do so we don’t second-guess our effort at the end of the season.”

Puetz’s previous career-high was 23 in a 90-84 win over UMary his sophomore year. On Saturday, however, he caught fire late to finish 9 of 14 from the field and 7 of 9 from 3-point range. His performance from beyond the arc nearly doubled his season total of 3-pointers, as he had shot 8 of 32 from beyond the arc through his first 12 games of the season. 

Puetz’s 10 rebounds were also a team-high, giving him a double-double in his final collegiate game in his hometown.

It was also a night to remember for the Mustangs. SMSU head coach Brad Bigler became the first coach in program history to reach the 250-win mark with the victory, improving his career record to 250-193 at the helm of the Mustangs. 

Dunwa Omot scored a team-high 20 points on 8 of 16 from the field and 4 of 10 from 3-point range for SMSU. His performance brought his career scoring total to 1,263 points for SMSU. His total moves him past Sam Leggett, who played 48 games from 1974-76, for 14th place on the Mustangs’ all-time scoring list. Now with 101 career games under his belt, Omot needs 112 more points to catch Matt Fletcher and crack the top 10.

Puetz shot 1 of 3 from beyond the arc before catching fire late in the game. With the Cougars trailing 61-51 in the final 6:10, Puetz hit five 3-pointers and a pair of free throws for 17 of his 28 points. He did not miss a 3-point attempt in the stretch.

Still, the visitors’ efforts weren’t enough as SMSU maintained a steady cushion. Puetz hit a 3 with three minutes remaining to cut SMSU’s lead to its slimmest margin of the half, 70-65, but a pair of 3-pointers from Omot and Mason Lund and a Braaten layup brought SMSU’s lead back up to 13 points. The Cougars never came back within 8 points.

Lund finished the night with 12 points for the Mustangs, all of which came in the second half. He shot 4 of 5 from the field with a pair of 3-pointers and grabbed five total rebounds for the Mustangs. Bigler attributed Lund’s second-half surge to his players’ selflessness and ability to cut to the rim and create looks for Lund beyond the arc. 

“I think they just did a better job of skipping off the drive and he was open,” Bigler said. “We did the one extra, one down, one up on the backside and the guys just created opportunities.”

Aeron Stevens got the Mustangs off to a hot start with a layup and a 3-pointer in the game’s opening minutes, giving SMSU a 5-3 lead. Yet, a pair of tip-ins from Creighton Morisch gave the Cougars a 7-5 lead and Taylen Ashley knocked down a 3-pointer to make the score 10-7 in favor of the visitors.

Stevens put together his first double-double of his sophomore campaign in the game, scoring 19 points on 7 of 17 shooting as well as a team-high 10 rebounds. Braaten grabbed another seven rebounds, as well as scoring 17 points on 5 of 8 shooting, but SMSU still lost the rebounding battle 36-31 and were outscored 17-4 on second-chance points.

“That’s Sioux Falls. You want to give them a lot of credit, they’re one of the best offensive rebounding teams in the league, year-in and year-out,” Bigler said. “Their big man [Morisch] is a tall guy [6-foot-10], so he’s going to get those high boards.”

After Morisch’s tip-ins put the Cougars on top 4:49 into the game, the Cougars maintained a lead of 5 or fewer points for the next six minutes. After hanging within arms reach, Steven Kramer hit a pair of free throws to give SMSU a 21-19 lead with nine minutes remaining. Sioux Falls’ other Marshall native, Josh Baker, responded with a tying layup but Mekhi Shaw kept the Mustangs on top by answering with a midrange jumper of his own.

Shawn Warrior knocked down a transition layup for the Cougars to tie the game at 23-all with 6-and-a-half minutes left in the first half. Yet, it was all Mustangs from there. A Stevens layup and free throw followed by an Omot 3 gave the Mustangs their largest lead of the game to that point, 29-26. 

Early on in the game, SMSU departed from its typical down-tempo offense by pushing the pace against the Cougars. While the attempts early in the shot clock weren’t falling at first, SMSU was getting good looks and finished the night with a 36-30 advantage in points in the paint.

“We were trying to push the pace as much as possible knowing Sioux Falls wanted to play in the half court,” Bigler said, adding that he also wanted to see his team score more than it did off assists. Still, they finished the night with 15 assists on seven turnovers, compared to Sioux Falls’ 17 assists with 13 turnovers. “There were moments where we were good, and really good in the second half… in the first half, we got a little bit sticky with it, but worked through it.”

After Kyle Ingwerson got the Cougars back on the board with a layup, SMSU extended its lead to double digits with a pair of Braaten free throws, a Stevens 3-pointer and an Omot layup to give the Mustangs an 11-point cushion. 

A Puetz 3-pointer in the final minute of the half trimmed SMSU’s lead to 36-28 heading into the locker room for halftime.

Prior to Puetz’s run, SMSU led by as many as 15 points in the second half. A Braaten layup and a Kramer free throw capped off an 8-0 run to bring the score to 53-39 with 11:18 to play. 

Defensively, Omot blocked a pair of shots in the game for SMSU while Kramer and Braaten each nabbed a pair of steals to lead SMSU to a 15-7 advantage in points off turnovers. 

Heading into the winter break, SMSU now sits at 10-3 on the season. Its 5-2 conference record ties it for third in the NSIC with Concordia-St. Paul and Winona State. 

“I’m excited. I thought we had a tough one on Thursday [in the 62-59 loss to 14th-place Augustana], definitely a lot of uncharacteristic things, but I think we all needed this break. Both Sioux Falls and us, watching the game tonight,” Bigler said. “I think when we get back and we get a little bit healthier and we get everyone that extra bounce in their step, I’m excited for what they can do.”

SMSU will next compete on Jan. 3 at Minnesota Crookston (3-9, 2-4 NSIC) at 7:30 p.m. The Mustangs’ next home games will come on Jan. 10 and 11 against second-place Minnesota State-Moorhead (10-2, 5-1 NSIC) and first-place Minot State (15-0, 6-0 NSIC), slated for 7:30 p.m. and 5:30 p.m. respectively.