Men’s basketball sweep weekend series

The Mavericks returned to their winning ways this week as they defeated the University of Sioux Falls on Friday. The Mavs rolled to a 99-82 victory in Mankato.

Minnesota State was in command of this game since the opening-tip. The only lead that Sioux Falls held was early in the first half, when they led by two points. Sioux Falls never led during the game.

The Mavs were led in scoring by Kevin Krieger, who dropped 24 points on the night. Chris Kendrix added 19 points of his own.
Charlie Brown nearly had a double-double, as he finished the game with 17 points and nine assists.

The Mavericks shot the ball extremely well in this game. Krieger (5-5), Kendrix (4-4), and Jamal Nixon (1-1) were all perfect from the free-throw line. As a team, the Mavericks were 12-14 from the free-throw line.

Drew Guebert had a game-high 28 points for Sioux Falls.

The Mavericks returned to the Taylor Center on Saturday for a contest against Southwest Minnesota State.

The contest against the Mustangs was much closer, as the Mavericks of Mankato were able to hold onto a 72-70 victory.
Chris Kendrix made one-of-two free-throws with 29 seconds left to give Minnesota State the two-point lead. The Mavs were able to rebound the missed free-throw and run time off the clock.

After a missed three-point attempt by Kevin Krieger with nine seconds left, Southwest Minnesota State had a chance to tie the game and force the overtime. Fortunately, for the Mavericks, Michael Lee of the Mustangs missed a lay-up with one second remaining in the ball-game.

Minnesota State was led in scoring by Chris Kendrix with 20 points. Charlie Brown also continues to score the ball well as he ended the game with 19 points.

The Mustangs were led by Ryan Bruggeman, who had a game-high 21 points. Carter Kirk had a double-double for SWMSU, as he filled the stat sheet with 16 points and 12 rebounds.

The Minnesota State Mavericks have now won three games in a row. The Mavs’ record is now 15-4, including 11-2 in in-conference play.

The next game for the Mavericks comes on Tuesday, January 23, when they will travel to Saint Paul to battle it out with Concordia-St. Paul.

The Mavs have 5-2 road record and defeated the Golden Bears handedly in the reverse fixture. The Bears have an overall record of 3-16 coming into the match-up with MSU.

As we look further down the calendar, we see that the Mavericks will be home again this weekend. On Friday, they will host the University of Minnesota – Crookston. This will be the first match-up between the teams this season. The Golden Eagles enter the contest against the Mavericks with an overall record of 8-12.

On Saturday, the Mavericks play host to the Bemidji State Beavers. This will also be the first meeting between the Mavericks and Beavers. The Beavers may end up being another pesky opponent, as they hold a record of 8-11.

It will sure be interesting to see how the Mavericks will fair this week, especially when it comes to their three-game winning streak. Adding another game into the weekly schedule shouldn’t slow down this Minnesota State team, as they have plenty of depth on the bench and players who can score the ball well when needed.