Late three pointer sends MN State past SMSU

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (SMSU) — Minnesota State’s Justin Eagins hit a go-ahead 3-pointer with less than a minute remaining to snap a 65-65 tie and lift the Mavericks to a thrilling 68-67 victory over Southwest Minnesota State in the NSIC Tournament semifinals inside the Sanford Pentagon.

SMSU answered with Dunwa Omot scoring on a layup with 35 seconds left to cut the deficit to 68-67. The Mustangs would force a turnover on the ensuing possession with 10 seconds left, but SMSU failed to get a shot off before the final buzzer as MSU earned its third victory over SMSU this season.

MSU, the No. 1 seed in the tournament and ranked No. 3 nationally, improves to 28-2 overall and will play in Tuesday’s championship game. SMSU, the No 5 seed in the tournament, drops to 19-12 overall.

SMSU, ranked No. 7 in last week’s NCAA Central Region rankings, will now await its fate for the upcoming NCAA Tournament with the NCAA selection show announced on Sunday night.

MSU, which held a 34-21 halftime lead, built a 65-53 advantage with 4:30 remaining before SMSU put together a furious rally to eventually tie the game. Aeron Stevens started the run with a pair of free throws before Kyle Luedtke drilled a 3-pointer with 3:22 left to cut the MSU lead to 65-58. Cliff Cofield scored on a layup to cut the deficit to 65-60 and after MSU missed the front end of a pair of 1-and-1’s, Cofield converted a three-point play to make the score 65-63 with 1:51 remaining. SMSU would get another defensive stop setting up a game-tying field goal by Luedtke with one minute left in the game.

Eagins, who scored 18 points in the game, answered on the ensuing possession with a tough 3-pointer from in front of the MSU bench.

Luedtke led a balanced scoring attack for the Mustangs with 13 points on 5 of 8 shooting with three 3-pointers. Omot, Cofield and Stevens each finished with 10 points, while Jake Phipps added seven points and a team-high nine rebounds.

SMSU, which shot just 27 percent in the opening 20 minutes, closed the game shooting 38 percent (23 of 61) overall, while making 8 of 22 from 3-point range. The Mustangs held a 39-30 rebound advantage

MSU shot 45 percent (24 of 53) overall, including making 12 of 25 from 3-point range. Kyreese Willingham also scored 18 points for the Mavericks, while Malik Willingham scored 15 points and grabbed seven rebounds.

MSU jumped out to a quick starting in building a 15-5 lead in the opening five minutes of the game. SMSU countered and cut the deficit to 23-18 following an Omot 3-pointer at the 7:24 mark, but MSU answered back and eventually pushed the lead to 34-21 at halftime.

MSU opened the second half connecting on three field goals, including two 3-pointers in the opening two minutes to extend the lead to 42-26.

SMSU would not quit and pulled to within 46-43 as Jakob Braaten converted a three-point play with just over 13 minutes remaining.

MSU fought off another SMSU charge in building the lead to 63-50 with 6:41 left and maintained the double-digit lead until SMSU countered with the game-tying run.

SMSU’s 19 victories is the program’s highest since winning 25 during the 2017-18 season. The Mustangs will look to add to the total with an NCAA Tournament bid.

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