Men’s Basketball Split Series with Wildcats, Get Ready for Sioux Falls

Daniel McElroy ® Sports Editor |
Photo by Mansoor Ahmad ® Photo Editor |

The MSU men’s basketball team split their series last weekend against Wayne State College, and look ahead to another series on the road against Southwest Minnesota State University.

The Mavericks improve their record to 4-2 after Sunday’s win, while the Wildcats drop to 3-3, with both teams holding a 3-1 NSIC record.

WSC came out roaring with a massive 10-0 run to start the game that only kept improving for them. Brady Williams and Quincy Anderson started the scoring for the Mavericks to make it 12-4, but by the time they could make another basket from Devonte Thedford, the WIldcats put up another 15 points, making it a 27-4 game. 

The half ended with the Mavericks down by 19 at a score of 40-21.

After Wayne State’s 10-4 run to start the second half, MSU kept pace with WSC for the rest of the second half going basket for basket with each other, highlighted by Williams and Thedford, but it will not be quite enough.

Williams and Thedford both led the scoring for the Mavericks with 13 points a piece. 

The Mavericks dropped their first conference game of the season, bringing their NSIC record to 2-1.

Sunday’s meeting proved the Mavericks were unsatisfied with their performance the previous day.

The two teams were neck and neck with each other through the start of the first half until a 13-13 tie, turned into an 11-2 run for the Wildcats. The Mavericks responded with a 21-6 run of their own, taking the lead 39-33 with 3:16 to go in the first half.

The teams went into the locker rooms with MSU in the lead, 44-36. Anderson led the scoring for both teams with 19 points.

The second half started out with Wildcats leading point scorer Jordan Janssen making a jumper in the paint, only to be answered by the Mavericks going on a 9-2 run to take the lead 53-40. 

MSU didn’t let go of their lead for the entire second half, closing out the game with a score of 80-77. 

Anderson records a career-high 26 points as a redshirt sophomore, breaking his previous career-high of 24 recorded earlier this month against Bemidji State. Malik Willingham and Thedford had a helping hand in the win with 16 points each.

The Mavericks will travel to Marshall next as they face the Southwest Minnesota State Mustangs. The Mustangs hold a 2-2 record, with all four games against Minot State.

SMSU’s Nick Dufault is the Mustangs leading point scorer with 16.8 points per game, leading the Mustangs in points in three out of four games. 

Tip-off for both games will be at 1 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 23 and Sunday, Jan. 24.