Spartan Men Take Number One Riverland to Overtime but Come up Short in 81-78 Loss

The Riverland Blue Devils came into Fergus Falls on Saturday as the number one ranked team in NJCAA Division III Men's Community College Basketball with a perfect 17-0 record.  They were up against the 15-1 M State Spartans in a MCAC Southern Division battle and the game lived up to the hype leading up to tip-off time as the two teams battled through regulation play tied at 69-69 and had to go to an overtime period to decide the winner.  Riverland scored 12 overtime points and Spartans had 9 as the visitors escaped with an 81-78 victory.

The first half saw the Spartans overcome a 14-10 deficit by scoring twelve straight points to take a 22-14 lead.  They increased their lead to 11 points at 28-17 before the Blue Devils starting cutting into it.  They completed their comeback by taking a 36-35 halftime lead on a 3-point field goal by Lubab Kambalo, his only basket of the first half.

The second half was a back-and-forth battle as the game featured a total of 13 lead changes and 10 ties.  Riverland shot 46.7% (28-60) from the field and M State hit 44.l9% (31-69) of their shots.  The Spartans held a slim 34-31 edge on the boards.

In the second half, Christian Campbell's 3-pointer with just under a minute to play tied the game at 69-69.  The Spartans turned the ball over and forced a Riverland turnover on a shot clock violation with some good half-court defense.  That gave M State a chance with 5 seconds on the clock but their desperation 3 fell short at the buzzer.  In the overtime, Campbell made all six of his free throw opportunities and the Blue Devils made 7-of-8 foul shots as a team.  M State didn't get to the line in overtime.

Mason Muir (28 points, 3 assists) made 10-of-18 field goal attempts, including 3-of-9 from beyond the arc, and connected on 5-of-7 free throws to lead the Spartans.  Foday Sheriff completed a double-double with 25 points and 15 rebounds, and Yonis Mohamud scored 11 points, secured 7 rebounds, dished out 4 assists and came up with 4 steals.

Campbell led Riverland with 2 points and Nazih Chehade scored 17 points, distributed 8 assists and had 3 steals to go along with 5 rebounds.  Joe Poyser had a double-double (11 points, 11 rebounds) and Damar Jenkins came off the bench to score 16 points.

The loss snapped a six game Spartan winning streak.  M State will travel to Coon Rapids on Wednesday to face Anoka-Ramsey Community College.