Sioux Falls, S.D. - The University of Sioux Falls Men's Basketball team fell to Minnesota State Mankato 70-65 tonight.

The Cougars and Mavericks played a tight game throughout. USF came out aggressively on offense and defense as they held MSU to 27 points for the first half. Mankato shot 34% from the field and went 3-7 from behind the 3 point line. The Cougars went 3-11 from behind the arc and shot 48% from the field to win the first half 34-27. The largest lead for either team was 11 by USF.

In the second half the Mavericks came to life offensively. They shot 51% from the field and went 2-9 from 3 to close out the game. MSU also went 17-20 from the free throw line for the game. The Cougars struggled on offense in the 2nd half. MSU held the Cougars to 34% shooting from the field and 3-15 from behind the arc. USF got 17 points off the bench compared to only 7 from MSU and the Mavericks had 36 points in the paint while the Cougars had 28. MSU had 14 points off of Cougar turnovers and 18 fast break points compared to USF's 11 in each category. 

LEADERS

Jack Thompson led USF in scoring with 18 points. Zane Alm had 12 points, Noah Puetz had 11, and Kyle Ingwerson had 10 points. 

The Cougars were led in rebounding by Ingwerson who had 9 rebounds. Josh Baker and Shawn Warrior each had 6 boards as well. Alm had a game and season high 4 blocked shots. 

Thompson paced the Coo in assists with 6. Kenji Scales and Jake Kettner each had 2 as well. Thompson, Warrior, and Kettner each had 2 steals. Thompson played a team high 37 minutes.

UP NEXT

The Cougars will be back in action Friday February 9. They will be in St. Paul, Minn. to take on Concordia-St. Paul starting at 7:30PM in the Gangelhoff Center.