BOX SCORE

MARSHALL, Minn. – Vinard Birch hit the go-ahead layup with 2.2 seconds remaining to give Southwest Minnesota State a 69-67 victory over Concordia-St. Paul in NSIC men's basketball on Friday night at the R/A Facility.

Birch, who scored the game's final four points, led SMSU (17-10, 14-7 NSIC) with 17 points, while dishing out five assists and recording three steals. Shaun Condon came off the bench to score 14 points for SMSU, while Matt Zager added 11 points on 5 of 6 shooting.

The victory for SMSU – ranked No. 9 in the first NCAA Central Region rankings – clinches the No. 3 seed in the NSIC South Division. SMSU will host the No. 6 seed from the NSIC North on Wednesday night in the first round of the NSIC/Sanford Health Tournament.

CU (8-17, 5-16 NSIC) had a chance to win the game in the final second, but Travon Mitchell's 3-pointer missed off the back of the rim as the buzzer sounded. Terez VanPelt led the Golden Bears with 21 points with three 3-pointers, while Mitchell chipped in with 14 points.

VanPelt connected on 3-pointer with one minute and 57 seconds left in the game to give CU a 67-65 lead, but Birch answered on SMSU's next possession with a jumper to tie the game at 67 with 1:30 remaining.

CU missed two field goal attempts on its next possession before SMSU's Matt Zager grabbed a rebound with 1:01 left in the contest. Birch missed a jumper with 28 seconds, but Nick Smith grabbed the offensive rebound to keep the Mustangs in possession and setting up the game-winning shot.

SMSU finished the game shooting 52 percent (29 of 56) from the field with six 3-pointers and held a 36-33 rebound advantage. CU shot 41 percent (26 of 64) from the field and finished 8 of 17 from 3-point range. SMSU committed 11 turnovers, while CU turned the ball over just six times. The Golden Bears held a 12-3 scoring advantage in points off of turnovers.

SMSU jumped out to a quick start in the game's first eight minutes building a 16-8 advantage, highlighted by a pair of 3-pointers by Matt Zager and Joey Bartlett.

CU rallied with a 10-2 run to tie the game at 18 with nine minutes and 43 seconds left before Shaun Condon answered with a jumper a 3-pointer to give SMSU a 23-18 lead.

SMSU held a pair of five-point leads later in the half before CU rallied for the final four points of the half to tie the game at 33 into halftime.

SMSU shot 50 percent (13 of 26) from the field with four 3-pointers and held a 17-14 rebound advantage. The Mustangs committed seven turnovers in the half, which led to eight points off turnovers for the Golden Bears.

The lead changed 10 times in the second half with CU taking its first lead of the game with 17:37 left in the game. CU built a 46-43 advantage with 13:30 remaining, but SMSU rallied back with a 7-0 run capped by a layup by Condon to give the Mustangs a 50-46 lead at the 10:13 mark.

The Golden Bears would answer back and eventually built its largest lead of the night at 64-58 with five minutes remaining. Zager countered with a layup to make the score 64-60, before SMSU forced a CU miss on its next possession and cut the deficit to 64-62 with 4:13 remaining on a layup by Birch. Condon then gave SMSU the lead with a 3-pointer at the 3:26 mark to make the score 65-64, before VanPelt connected on a 3-pointer to give CU a 67-65 lead.

Southwest Minnesota State concludes the regular season tomorrow night hosting No. 17 Minnesota State (24-4, 18-3 NSIC) in a game with big regional implications with tip-off slated for 7 p.m.