Photo by Jake McNeill: Southwest Minnesota State forward Cliff Cofield (2) spins into a layup during the first half of a mens basketball game against St. Cloud State in Marshall on Saturday afternoon.
MARSHALL — The Southwest Minnesota State mens basketball team overcame a late rally from St. Cloud State on Saturday afternoon for an 86-75 weekend sweep. The win comes a day after the Mustangs took down Bemidji State.
Jake Phipps put together a solid first half but took control of the Mustang offense in the second. He missed just one of his seven second-half shots and scored 15 points for a total of 24 on the night. His three offensive boards also tied him with Aeron Stevens for a team-high and his six total boards tied him with Stevens for second on the team behind Mason Lund’s 10.
Coming off a season-high 23 points against Bemidji State — which surpassed his previous season-high of 17 points he set the game prior against Maryville (Mo.) — Dunwa Omot once again found his rhythm early against St. Cloud. He scored 7 of the Mustangs’ first 17 points, including a 3-pointer that put SMSU on top 17-15.
The Mustangs carried that lead for the remainder of the first half and Omot went into the locker room as the game’s second-leading scorer with 12 points on 4-of-6 shooting and a pair of 3-point makes. He finished the game with 20 points on 6-of-10 shooting from the field and 3-of-7 from 3-point range.
“During break, I was trying to get my flow back and everything. I rested a little bit but also got after it. Yesterday was kind of when I really figured that I feel like I’m back to 100 [percent] and moving the samw way I was last year,” Omot said. “All my teammates have 100% trust in me and good things happen when we trust each other. We played really well the last two days and, like you said, just finding the rhythm and I feel like I’m back now.”
While Omot’s shot was falling from beyond the arc, the rest of the Mustangs combined to shoot 0-of-4 from 3-point range. Yet, the Mustangs’ interior defense was stifling. SMSU outscored St. Cloud 28-8 in the paint and held the Huskies to 5-of-12 shooting on 2-point attempts. SMSU, on the other hand, shot 14-of-23 inside the arc and built a 38-31 lead going into the locker room for halftime. While the Huskies were improved in the second half with 20 points in the paint, SMSU continued to wreak havoc with another 22 in the paint.
St. Cloud came out of the locker room looking like a new team. They started the half out on an 8-2 run to make it a 1-point game and eventually took a 46-44 lead on a putback layup four minutes into the second half. The lead was their first time being ahead since the 11:42 mark of the first half.
“I think resiliency was a big key there. Our older guys and our leaders just needed to step up and calm everybody down,” Cofield said of the Mustangs’ mentality once the Huskies pulled ahead.
The Huskies extended their lead to 4 points, 52-48, before Kyle Luedtke finished a layup through contact and knocked down the and-1 to cut the deficit to 1 point. Lucas Morgan responded with a layup for St. Cloud but Jake Phipps converted a 3-pointer from the point and hit a right-handed jump hook on the next two possessions to give the Mustangs a 56-54 lead. Cliff Cofield then responded to a Matt Willert layup with another 3 from the top of the key to make it a 3-point game.
The Mustangs only continued to pile on from there. Cofield spun into a layup, finished through contact and knocked down the and-1 before Jake Braaten’s layup gave the Mustangs a 66-56 lead, the game’s first double-digit lead. Cofield’s layup made him the 27th player in SMSU history to hit the 1,000-point mark.
“I knew about it but I was really just focused on getting the win today, shooting the ball and doing my job for the team,” Cofield said of the milestone. “I created for my teammates and they made sure I got [the milestone] and put me in a position to get it.”
Omot then hit a free throw to cap off an 11-0 Mustang run with a 67-56 lead. The Huskies ended the run at the free throw line but Cofield hit a 3-pointer to prevent St. Cloud from starting any sort of run of its own. Cofield’s 15 points on the night tied St. Cloud’s leading scorer and his five assists were a game-high.
Aeron Stevens created some momentum for the Mustangs early in the first half. The lead changed six times in the first eight minutes of play before SMSU seized momentum. The Mustangs first started to take control when Stevens hit a layup and threw down a dunk on consecutive possessions. He scored 13 of his 17 points in the first half.
Omot blocked three shots and stole the ball twice, Cofield came away with another trio of steals and Stevens blocked a pair of shots. SMSU created 16 points off turnovers in the game while St. CLoud finished with 10.
Southwest Minnesota State (9-6, 6-3 NSIC) currently sits in fifth place in the NSIC. They’ll have an opportunity to make up some ground next weekend when they head out on the road to take on undefeated Minnesota State Moorhead on Friday at 5:30 p.m. and then take on fourth-place Minot State on Saturday at 3:30 p.m. The No. 2 Dragons are 13-0 on the season and 7-0 in conference play while the Beavers are 10-3 overall and 5-2 in conference play.
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