Box Score

MARSHALL, Minn. – Southwest Minnesota State's Carter Kirk scored 24 points and grabbed 14 rebounds to pace the Mustangs to a hard-fought 78-73 victory over the University of Mary in the first round of the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference/Sanford Health Men's Basketball Tournament on Wednesday night at the R/A Facility.
 
SMSU, the No. 1 seed from the South Division, improves to 22-7 overall and advances to the tournament quarterfinals on Saturday night starting at 5:30 p.m. at the Sanford Pentagon in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.
 
U-Mary, the No. 8 seed from the North Division, ends its season at 6-21 overall.
 
The game featured nine lead changes and was tied 10 times.
 
Kirk's double-double was his 14^th of the season and helped SMSU extended its season-long winning streak to eight games. Ryan Bruggeman and Michael Lee each poured in 18 points for the Mustangs, while Bruggeman dished out a game-high nine assists.
 
SMSU, which is ranked No. 4 in the latest NCAA Central Region rankings released today, finished the game shooting 48 percent (29 of 60) from the field, while making 8 of 21 from 3-point range. SMSU also held a 35-24 rebound margin.
 
U-Mary was led by Connor Hellebrust, who scored a career-high 18 points on 6 of 7 shooting. The Marauders shot 52 percent (27 of 52) from the field, but shot just 41 percent in the second half.
 
U-Mary scored the game's first seven points and held the lead for much of the opening half, including building a 30-21 advantage with six minutes and 49 seconds remaining.
 
SMSU countered over the next three minutes with a 12-2 run capped off be a 3-pointer by Lee to give the Mustangs their first lead of the game at 33-32 at the 3:45 mark.
 
The score was tied at 40 with under a minute remaining before Kirk scored with 33 seconds remaining to give SMSU a 42-40 halftime lead.
 
Kirk had 16 points in the opening half with Bruggeman and Lee each scoring eight points.
 
U-Mary shot 64 percent in the first half.
 
The game remained tight into the second half as U-Mary held its last lead of the game at 60-58 with 11:26 remaining. SMSU then put together the key run of the game, holding U-Mary to just two points over the next eight-plus minutes, in building a 70-62 lead following a four-point play by Lee.
 
U-Mary would cut the deficit to five points on two occasions in the final two minutes, but SMSU made enough plays down the stretch to seal the victory.