MARSHALL, MINN. -
The University of North Dakota men's basketball team dropped a 77-64 decision to Southwest Minnesota State on Tuesday at the R/A Facility. The Sioux and Mustangs were tied at the half, but an early 11-0 run in the second half by the home team and a 31-for-39 effort at the free throw line lifted SMSU to its second win over UND this season.
The win extended the Mustangs' (18-5) win streak to eight games, while the Sioux fall to 11-9 with the loss. Senior G Daniel Harkins (Portage, Wis.) scored a game-high 20 points, while junior F Travis Mertens (Devils Lake, N.D.) added 10 for the Sioux.
The Sioux opened the game on a 7-2 run to grab a quick lead that they would hold for over the first 12 minutes of the game. Sophomore F Derek Benter (Crosby, N.D.) had six points during the early going to pace the Sioux out of the gates.
UND led until the 7:34 mark when SMSU forward Nick Dale sank a pair of free throws to give the home team a 20-19 advantage. Dale scored 10 first-half points for the Mustangs and led the team with 18 points.
The lead would change six times down the stretch of the first half with the first 20 minutes ending in a 31-31 tie. It was the first time the Sioux were in a tied game at the half this season.
Harkins led all scorers with 11 first-half points, including sinking a 3-pointer with 1:12 to briefly give the lead back to the Sioux at 31-29. Harkins connected on 4-of-6 shots from the floor as UND made 50 percent of its shots (11-for-22), while holding SMSU to a 40 percent clip (10-for-25).
The first three minutes of the second were much like how the first half ended with both teams exchanging leads. After a lay-up by Mertens gave the Sioux a 39-37 advantage, the Mustangs then reeled off the next 11 points to build their largest advantage of the game at 48-39.
"We played well in the first half, but did not come out with the energy we needed too in the second half," UND head coach Brian Jones said. "We did a poor job of rebounding and executing after the break and you cannot give up 46 points in the second half on the road and expect to win."
That run would prove to be the difference in the game as SMSU kept its lead between 10-15 points for the remainder of the game.
SMSU made six free throws during that run that included two after a technical foul on Jones. The Mustangs were 24-for-31 from the line, while the Sioux made just 14 trips to the charity stripe after the break (made 10).
Redshirt freshman F Pat Mitchell (Des Moines, Iowa) connected on a three to pull the Sioux within 10 at 58-48, but the Mustangs equaled that with a three by Jon DeRock on their next trip down the floor.
The Sioux found themselves facing a 10-point deficit on a number of occasions in the closing minutes, but could not cut the lead to single digits.
UND travels to Seattle, Wash., this weekend to face Seattle University in a match-up of Division I transition schools. The Red Hawks and Sioux will meet for the first time on the hardwood as they play the first of a home-and-home series on Saturday at 9 p.m CT.
GAME NOTES: This is a rematch of a game played earlier this season when the Mustangs defeated the Sioux, 78-73, in Grand Forks (Nov. 18) ... That was the first time a road team won on an opponents' home court in the series history ... Senior G Daniel Harkins (Portage, Wis.) scored in a double figures for a team-leading 16th time this season ... Sophomore F Derek Benter (Crosby, N.D.) had six points after scoring just three points in the previous five games.
