Photo by Samantha Davis. Southwest Minnesota State University's Jakob Braaten prepares to go up for a shot in the second half against Minot State University at the R/A Facility in Marshall. Braaten led with led SMSU with 22 points, seven rebounds, three assists and two steals in the Mustangs' 76-73 win.

MARSHALL — Tying the program’s best start since the 2016-17 season with now 13 wins, the No. 23 Southwest Minnesota State University mens basketball team defeated No. 4 Minot State University in a 76-73 thriller in a Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference game Saturday night. The win marks four straight for the Mustangs.

“This [win] feels great, we have to enjoy these moments,” sophomore guard Mekhi Shaw said. “Our conference is really good, so in every game, we have to come in and respect our opponent … The team came together, we were resilient, and we got the W.”

Jakob Braaten had an all-around efficient game and led SMSU with 22 points, seven rebounds, three assists and two steals. Aeron Stevens followed with 15 points, and went 5 for 7 from deep. Shaw tallied 17 points, tying his career high, and also had three assists with two steals.

SMSU was without senior Dunwa Omot, who is the Mustangs’ current leader in 3-point shooting and blocks. He sustained a left ankle injury in the first half of Friday’s game, and will be re-evaluated in a few weeks. X-rays showed there was no break, which was the coaching staff’s initial worries.

In response to losing Omot, SMSU pulled true freshman Landon Pokorski’s redshirt. Just a day after being made an active player, the guard from Nebraska finished with 6 points, going 2 for 2 from the arc, with three assists.

“It’s been a crazy 24 hours. Shout out to the guys for trusting me and the coaching staff,” Pokorski said. “It wasn’t an easy decision for coach [Brad] Bigler to make. We don’t know what today or tomorrow will bring, and it’s next man up in this program. There’s just so many great teammates that have all the confidence in me, and the coaches, that made it a lot easier to go out there and just compete and play free.”

SMSU went into halftime with a 1-point edge, and led by as many as 16 points in the first half. But, Minot caught up and eventually tied the game, and it was a competitive show down from there.

Although being limited to just 28 points in the paint and 3 second chance points, the Mustangs made up for it with their 3-point shooting. SMSU shot 48% from the perimeter, making 13 of 27 attempts. It held the Beavers to just 28% from the arc, making eight.

“The big conversation [at half time] was that the tougher team was going to win tonight,” Shaw said. “Making those hustle plays … Rebounding, boxing out. Those were the type of plays that we needed to make down the stretch to secure the W tonight.”

Both the Mustangs and Beavers have had standout seasons so far, and entered Saturday occupying the first and second spots in the current NSIC standings, with the Beavers at the top.

SMSU, who was ranked 23rd in this week’s Division II College Sports Communicators Poll, came off a fresh 59-53 win over Minnesota State University Moorhead Friday night. Minot State however, was handed its first loss at the University of Sioux Falls on Friday, falling 85-61.

Keys to the game that SMSU had to look to limit Minot on, were rebounding and 3-point attempts. The Beavers rank eighth nationally, as of Jan. 11, in rebound margin and 20th in their 3-point percentage.

“[We wanted] to try to double down on box outs … Have our guards come in and get some rebounds,” Shaw said. “Then 3-point shooting, they have two really good shooters. We were trying to limit them, limit their looks, or make them tough to shoot over a hand. That was our goal going into it.”

Although performing better from the arc, the Mustangs were outrebounded 40-30.

The two teams were nearly neck-and-neck in all statistical categories in the first half, including in rebounds, assists, and turnovers, forecasting the game would be decided in the final moments.

“I thought we just competed. They are big, strong and athletic, but we just battled,” Pokorski said. “We played together and we played confident with each other. We hit big shots when we needed them. It was a fun one.”

The game came down to Minot trailing by a field goal, and resorted to fouling to put SMSU at the charity stripe. SMSU went 4 for 4 in the final minute in free throws, to help save the game.

SMSU entered the second half with up 41-40. It came out on a 7-0 run with a 3-pointer from Shaw, paired with back-to-back steals and layups from Braaten and Shaw.

Another 3-pointer from Shaw, who was a large offensive spark with Braaten, put the Mustangs up 60-51.

“They [Minot] play a heavy-gap defense, so it opens up a lot more space for 3-point shots and better looks,” Shaw said. “Our coach told us to shoot with confidence, and we knocked them down.”

SMSU fought through the game to slow down Minot’s Caleb Van De Griend, who continued to get the ball inside. He finished with 20 points and 19 rebounds.

Braaten helped SMSU get its double-digit lead back at 66-54 with three straight buckets, but the Beavers quickly cut their trail again to single digits with a 6-0 run.

“I think our coaches do a great job of giving us an opportunity to set ourselves up, and also our teammates up at the same time,” Shaw said regarding how himself and Braaten led the night’s offense. “Creating plays for our teammates on a drive and kick, and then going for another drive. We just have great team chemistry.”

Intensity grew and both coaches displayed frustration on several calls in the final minutes.

With just over a minute to go, SMSU held a 72-70 lead when a timeout was called. Minot had the possession coming out, and missed its jump shot attempt.

The Beavers began to foul to put SMSU at the free throw line with 19.8 seconds left.

Braaten made his two free throws to put the Mustangs up 74-70, to which Minot made a layup in response to cut it back to a possession.

Kramer was put at the line with 10 seconds to go, and also made both, which created just enough buffer of a lead as Minot made one more shot after to make it 76-72.

Stevens fouled the Beavers on a 3-point attempt, which they made just one of, and SMSU kept its 76-73 advantage.

Minot shot off one more deep 3-point attempt from near half court after grabbing a defensive rebound, which didn’t fall, and SMSU completed its victory over the ranked Beavers, handing them their second loss of the season.

“Securing rebounds and finishing plays is a big conversation that we talked about,” Shaw said regarding the final timeout conversations. “Then, we did a great job of making throws down the stretch, and that’s a big part to shut a team out.”

SMSU held Minot to just one field goal in the first five minutes of the game, and jumped to a 12-2 lead behind 3-pointers from Braaten and Nathan Fenske to start the night.

Stevens was hot from the 3-point line in the first half, going 5 for 5.

Pokorski entered the game for his college debut a few minutes into the game, and drilled in a 3-pointer as the bench and fans erupted in support. He also made another one later in the half.

“With Dunwa out, we had to be a little bit more resilient tonight. He is a big, big part of our offense and team in general, even on defense,” Shaw said. ” But, Landon stepped up big time and came ready to play.”

Minot State began to heat up, and tied the score up at 35. It hit back-to-back 3’s to cut into a 23-17 deficit and Bigler called a timeout.

“Credit to Minot. They made a lot of runs and stayed in it, and battled back,” Pokorski said. “We just took the punches and found a way in the end.”

Out of the reset, a pair of consecutive Minot steals and layups cut the game to just one possession with SMSU up 23-21. The momentum shift from there carried for the rest of the competitive game.

The 2016-27 Mustangs opened the year up 13-1, and this year’s squad now improves to 13-3 on the season, matching up in the first half of the regular season with the team that finished as conference champions and made a run to the third round in the NCAA Tournament.

SMSU (13-3, 8-2) will look to keep its streak going when it next hosts Northern State (1-14, 0-9) on Friday at 5:30 p.m. at R/A Facility.