Southwest Minnesota State 69, Parkside 60
A late run proved to be the difference in game two of the HARIBO Invitational, as Southwest Minnesota State spoiled Parkside men's basketball's home opener in the newly renovated De Simone Gymnasium. SMSU didn't hit a 3-pointer until the 6:04 mark in the second half, but made two in the middle of their late run.
 
The Rangers fall to 2-1 this season while SMSU improved to 2-1.
 
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HOW IT HAPPENED
Back-to-back 3-pointers by the Rangers' Tray Croft and Jamir Simpson gave the home squad a good start, but SMSU ripped off the first of three 8-0 runs to takeover their first lead in the first half. The teams battled back-and-forth for the rest of the way, heading to the locker room with a 31-31 tie.
 
In the second half, the Mustangs held on to the lead for the majority of the time. The biggest run of the game came after a Colin O'Rourke layup to make it 54-53 SMSU with 6:27 to play. The Mustangs used an 8-0 run to jump out to a 62-53 lead and the Rangers couldn't recover. Croft scored six straight points to make it a 5-point game, but missed a tough corner 3-pointer that would've made it a one-possession game under 2:00 to play.
 
STATWORTHY
Croft led the team for the third straight game with 18 points and seven rebounds while freshman Rasheed Bello tallied a career-high 11 points. Simpson went for eight points, six rebounds and four assists.
 
As a team, Parkside shot 38.2-percent from the floor and 29.6% from downtown, including a 2-of-14 mark in the second half. The Rangers went -3 in rebounding and -3 in the turnover battle.
 
WHAT'S NEXT
Parkside will finish out the HARIBO Invitational on Saturday, Nov. 20 with a 3 p.m. game against a tough Upper Iowa squad, who defeated Davenport handily before the Rangers' game. The Peacocks come in to Saturday 3-0 this season.