The Mayville State Comet Men's Basketball team traveled into southwest Minnesota for an exhibition game against NCAA Division II opponent Southwest Minnesota State in Marshall, MN on Wednesday evening. The Mustangs have been a tough force in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference the past few seasons, so it was going to be a good test for the Comets going into the matchup. The last time the two schools faced each other was in 1994, with the first-ever matchup back in the 1968-69 season.  After a tight game throughout most of the contest with each team going on some small runs, the Mustangs were able to close out with the lead and take it 83-70 over the Comets in the end. 

The Comets had a fight on their hands from the start as the Mustangs came out strong and kept the Comets coming from behind for most of the contest. Daniel Lindgren provided consistency for the Comet offense,as he steadily poured in 15 first-half points. After some back-and-forth action midway through the first half, the Mustangs were able to extend their lead by as much as 10 with 3:28 to go. However, MSU turned things around with an impressive 15 point offensive spurt from a handful of Comets, all in 3-pointers. Daniel Lindgren started it off with a bucket from downtown, then Gorg Alhag, Jack Turnbull, Leon Williams and a last second shot from Michael Slaba gave the Comets a 3 point lead, 45 to 42 at the half. 

The tight game continued on into the second half, with the game tied up at 45 and 49, then both teams swapped the lead on each possession for several minutes. But, SMSU would build their lead to 8 before the Comets went another brief run. They started a 9-0 streak with 5 straight points out of Daniel Lindgren, then buckets from Jack Turnbull and Michael Slaba to give them their last lead of the game, 63-62.  Ryan Bruggeman would be too much for the Comets to handle though, as he would finish out a strong game of 33 points, 20 points alone in the second half. MSU was unable to contain the Mustangs' 18 to 7 run as they closed out the last ten minutes of the game. In the end, it was the Mustangs winning 83 to 70 over the Comets. 

Despite the loss, Head Coach Darren Tighe was pleased with his team's effort on Wednesday night. "We were able to execute the things we wanted to defensively and played really hard. We had a bad five possession stretch of offense with 8 (minutes) to go that really hurt us in the end.  I'm proud of our effort. We are improving in many areas each game which is a good sign."

Leading the Comets in scoring was Daniel Lindgren with 20 and Jack Turnbull with 10. Michael Slaba finished with 8 points for MSU, and Eric Staebler pulled down 9 rebounds. SMSU's Ryan Bruggeman had a game-high of 33 points for the Mustangs. 

Next up for the 4-2 Comets will be the University of Minnesota-Morris on Tuesday, November 20th down in Morris, MN. Tipoff is set for 7:30 p.m.