Five Mustangs in double-digits helped the Southwest Minnesota State University Mustangs to a 68-52 win over Concordia- St. Paul on Saturday, February 8 in St. Paul. This marks the Mustangs’ sixth consecutive victory over the Golden Bears since the 2010-11 season.

The Mustangs jumped to a 12-2 lead in the first seven minutes of the game. However, Concordia quickly gained ground, cutting that lead to 14-8 approximately nine minutes before halftime.  The Mustangs responded with seven unanswered points to push that lead to 21-8 with just under seven minutes left in the half. Before the end of the first half, the Mustangs managed to push their lead to 15 points, for a score of 31-17 at halftime.

The Mustangs maintained their 15-point lead throughout the first two minutes of the second half (38-23). However, the Golden Bears slowly chipped away at the deficit with a 16-8 run, tightening the score up to 44-37 with 14:23 left in the half. However, the Mustangs kept the Golden Bears at arm’s length, maintaining a 58-49 lead with just under six minutes of play remaining. In the three minutes to follow, the Mustangs held the Golden Bears scoreless, using a 3-pointer by Shaun Condon and a layup by Mitch Weg to increase their lead to 63-49 with under three minutes left on the clock. The Mustangs would go on to defeat Concordia- St. Paul 68-52.

Nick Smith paced the Mustangs with 14 points and 10 rebounds for his fourth double-double of the season. Weg recorded 10 points and 11 rebounds for his first career double-double. Rounding out the Mustangs in double-digit scoring were Matt Zager (13), Joey Bartlett (11), and Vinard Birch (10).

With the win, the Mustangs improve to a record of 15-9 overall and 12-6 in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference. The Golden Bears fall to 7-5 overall and 4-14 in the NSIC.