Men’s basketball sweeps weekend series

The Mavericks are back to their winning ways after two road wins this weekend

Aaron Young
Staff Writer

This past weekend, the Minnesota State Mavericks men’s basketball team defeated the Wayne State Wildcats on the road, 90-79, and followed that up with a victory on Sunday, 79-73, over the Augustana Vikings. This breaks their two-game losing streak and brings the Mavs to 14-6 on the year, and 10-4 in the conference. 

Right out of the gate, the Mavericks were on a rampage, managing to get a 21-point lead early onin their first game of the weekend against Wayne State.

Junior guard Juwan McCloud connected from downtown halfway through the first half to get the Mavericks up 36-15. 

The Wildcats clawed their way back and got the lead down the with a little over a minute to go.

With the score at 40-30, freshman Tre Baumgardner drew the foul after shooting a 3-point shot, completing a four-point play to end the half. 

In the first half, every Maverick who hit the court scored, contributing to the mayhem. 

Junior forward Cameron Kirksey once again led the team with 10 points and McCloud added nine points and two assists. Even the bench got in on the action, scoring 17 points for the Mavericks.

The second half was a similar story. The Mavericks held their double-digit lead and were up by 21 again. 

Wayne State stormed back and got within eight points of the Mavs but it was too late. The Mavericks ended up winning the game 90-79.

Minnesota State had the advantage over Wayne State on the boards with 41 over 37. The Mavs bench in the end contributed over a third of their points, recording 33 on the night. 

Then on Sunday, the Mavericks had a tough battle against the Augustana Vikings. The game started out slow as both teams mustered up only 10 points halfway through the first half. 

Eventually, the Mavericks got their lead up to 11, before the Vikings responded back to get within seven heading into the second half. 

Augustana came out strong in the second half, but the Mavericks held onto their lead and managed to get a nine-point lead. 

Both teams were exchanging baskets and trying to get the upper hand late, with the Vikings connecting on a three deep to make the score 76-73 with a little over 30 seconds left. 

Augustana had their chance to come back but couldn’t execute on their final drive and the Mavericks came away with the victory.

Kirksey once again came up big in this game for the Mavs, leading the team with 24 points, and junior guard Kevin Krieger was a rebound shy of a double-double, as he had 16 points and nine rebounds.

Baumgardner was impressive once again off the bench, with 11 points, 4 boards and 3 assists.

Next up for the Mavericks is the MSU-Moorhead Dragons this Friday at 7:30 p.m. as the Mavericks look to continue their momentum at home.

Feature photo by Jeremiah Ayodele | MSU Reporter.