SIOUX FALLS – Led by the dynamic scoring duo of Trevon Evans (33 points) and Drew Guebert (28 points), the University of Sioux Falls Men's Basketball Team (19-9, 14-8 NSIC, 3^rd) ended an 11-game losing skein to Minnesota State (20-8, 16-6 NSIC) by recording an 88-81 NSIC victory on Senior Night at the Stewart Center.

With the victory, USF, which has won 9-of-12 games, moved its record to a DII-program-best 19-9 and a school-record 14-8 league NSIC mark, which gave them third place in the NSIC. As a result, USF will host for the first time both a men's and women's NSIC Tournament first round doubleheader next Wednesday.

In cross bracketing, NSIC No. 3 seeded USF will face Minnesota Crookston, the No. 6 seed in the NSIC North at 8 p.m. or following the conclusion of the USF Women's Basketball-U-Mary matchups. The two teams have split a pair of games this season. UMC winning a nonconference matchup in Crookston, 79-74 on Nov. 18 and USF taking the NSIC matchup, 68-56 on Jan. 13.

"I am so proud of this group," said USF Men's Head Coach Chris Johnson, who recorded his 191^st win tonight. "Even shooting 33 percent in the second half, they battled and found a way to put a W on the board. And, they beat a really good basketball team in Minnesota State," added Johnson, who team led by as many as 16 in the second half.

Before the game, USF honored seniors Zach Wessels and Tom Aase, both of Austin, Minn., in a Senior Night ceremony. Perhaps as a little icing on the cake, both Aase and Wessels, who had played in 231 games and started 110 in the purple and white, contributed to end the Cougars frustrations against MSU, which had beaten the Cougars with last second shots in both 2016-17 (68-67) and  2015-16 (70-68).

"We just knew we had to work extra hard tonight," said Wessels, who registered his 25^th double digit scoring game of his career with 10 points while contributing five rebounds and a blocked shot in 31 minutes. "It was fun seeing everyone play so hard and make plays at both ends."

For Aase, who has been in the program the longest (five years), it was a very meaningful win. "Yes, it was great to see everyone play so well all night and end some frustration against those guys," added Aase, who had two points, his 144^th career block and a rebounds in 10 minutes. 

Yet, this game ultimately rested on the play of two juniors in Evans, who had his second straight game over 30 points as he totaled 33, and Guebert, who had 28. The pair had combined for 52 points (Guebert, 28; Evans, 24), when USF dropped a 99-82 decision on Jan. 19 at Minnesota State.

On this night, they had a short memory but steady hands as they helped the Cougars to the win.

"Trevon (Evans) and Drew (Guebert) are really outstanding players," said Johnson. "They attack defenses and make things happen. Neither one shot particularly well but they stayed focused and helped bring home this victory."

Evans, who now has six games of 30 points or more this season and 15 over 20 points, now has 575 points this season, which ranks first in USF's D2 era and 11^th in school history.  In helping USF finish the home campaign at 12-2 with a sweep this weekend, Evans totaled 68 points and 11 rebounds in the past two nights. A junior from Wichita, Kan., Evans, who made 6-of-8 free throws down the stretch to ice the win, dropped in a career-best 18 charity tosses on 21 attempts. He added seven rebounds, two assists and a steal in his 38 minutes on the floor.

As for Guebert, he recorded his 25^th 20-point game with his 28 points as he made 9-of-21 shots, including 4-of-8 from downtown as he became just the second player ever at USF to surpass 200 career threes (201). Guebert, who is second in USF's DII-era with 542 points this season, also reached double digits for the 25^th time this season and 65^th in his career. The junior from Apple Valley, Minn. Also had a team-best nine rebounds, assist and block in 35 minutes.

Game Breakdown --

In a game that included just one tie and three lead changes, the Cougars led for over 30 minutes. After MSU jumped to a 12-7 lead at the 15:27 mark on a pair of foul shots by Charlie Brown, who finished with 28 points, the Cougars responded with six straight points as Wessels's drive and score gave USF the 13-12 lead with 13:04 to play in the half.

After MSU retook the lead, Guebert had a pair of jumpers and Teathloach Pal knocked in a free throw line extended jumper as the Cougars jumped to a 21-16 lead at the 8:14 mark. A 3-pointer from Chris Kendrix, who had 22 for MSU, and a basket by Kevin Krieger helped MSU take a short-lived 32-31 lead (4:03). Evans made a pair of free throws, and converted a lay-up as USF led, 36-31. MSU again trimmed the lead to one at 36-35 before Evans made a pair of free throws to help USF take a 38-36 halftime lead.
In the opening half, USF was able to take a lead by shooting better than MSU, 46.9 percent to 34.1 percent. But the game was tight as MSU, fueled by a trio of threes from Kendrix, had a 6-to-3 edge in made threes.

In 2017-18, things are pretty safe when the Cougars lead at the break. And, they would advance their record to 12-3 on the season by outscoring MSU, 50-45 in the second half.

Neither team shot the ball effectively with USF at 33.3 percent and MSU at 38.7 percent in the final 20 minutes.

It was just a matter of the Cougars separating themselves from MSU with a couple of second half bursts. Ahead 46-45, the Cougars put together a 9-0 run, capped by Guebert's 3-pointer at the 13:36 mark for a 55-45 advantage.  From there, USF added a 14-8 run to push their advantage to a game-high 16 points at 69-53 at the 7:27 mark.
But beating MSU wasn't going to be easy as Johnson noted. "We knew they would make a run. Coach (Matt Margenthaler) has an explosive team that fights it way back into games," he said.

And gradually, the Mavericks did just that. With an 18-5 run over the next five minutes, MSU drew within 74-69 (2:17).

Evans had the answer, on a drive to the basket, he was fouled and converted a pair for a 76-71 lead. At the 1:07 mark, he converted a lay-up for a six-point lead and MSU was forced to foul. MSU took advantage of a couple of USF misses at the line to cut the margin back to three at 84-81 with 14 seconds left.

But Evans ended any thoughts of a comeback win with four straight free throws as the Cougars were able to celebrate a win to close the regular season.