Spartan Men Defeat Minnesota West for 20th Win

The M State Men's Basketball team defeated Minnesota West, 82-75, on Saturday in Fergus Falls, winning their 20th game of the season.  The Spartans improved to 6-1 in the MCAC Southern Division as they completed a season sweep of the Bluejays.

With the score sitting at 28-26 the Spartans rattled off 15 straight points to gain a 43-26 lead.  At that point, Minnesota West went on a 10 point run to end the half, cutting the M State lead to 43-36.  They trimmed the lead to 43-38 with the first two points of the second half, however, the Spartans built the lead to 19 points before the Bluejays fought back to within 4 points.  M State withstood that rally and secured the win.

Yonis Mohamud scored a team high 21 points on 8-of-14 shooting, making 4-of-6 3's.  Mason Muir and Foday Sheriff added 18 points each.  Javin Tindall led the team with 9 rebounds, Sheriff had 8 and Tyson McArthur 7.  Muir delivered a team best 5 assists.  M State shot 45.3% (29-64) from the field and 47.8% (11-23) from 3-point range.

Minnesota West shot 45% (27-60) on the night.  They were led by 28 points and 10 rebounds from Zackery Rygg.  Deondre Wallace and Calvin Flood added 15 and 10 points, respectively.

M State, ranked tenth in the NJCAA Division III National poll, will play the to-ranked team in the country, Riverland, on Wednesday night in Austin.  Riverland beat the Spartans by 3 points in overtime earlier this season in Fergus Falls.