BARTLESVILLE, OKLA. – The East Central University men's basketball team opened the 2014-15 season in the same gym they finished the 2013-14 season, falling to Southwest Minnesota State 70-76 at Bruin Fieldhouse in the Great American Conference/Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference Challenge.

The Tigers (0-1) were led by junior Stirling Thomas, who garnered 24 points and added eight rebounds. Sophomore Braxton Reeves was also in double-digits in the point's column, with 11.

"I give Southwest Minnesota a lot of credit," said head coach Ja Havens.  "They are very well coached and they made plays down the stretch when the game was on the line.  We need to learn from this one and get some things corrected, but I believe very strongly in our team."

The Mustangs (1-0) jumped out ready to play and took an early 0-6 lead in the first two minutes before the Tigers got on the scoreboard.  ECU countered with a 10-2 run over the next three minutes for its first lead of the game (10-8).

The Tigers kept the lead between one and four points for most of the half, but had increased the lead to as many as six with two minutes left to play.  However, SWMS then took over and used an 8-0 run to end the stanza with a 39-41 advantage.

The Mustangs continued the run through the first three minutes of the second half and pushed out to an eight-point advantage (41-49) with the 16-2 run.

ECU then made a push and used an 18-5 run over the next nine minutes to regain the advantage (59-54).  SWMS tied the game at 61, with a 7-2 run, and forced the teams back into a battle for control.

The teams traded points for the next two minutes and were tied at 64 with just under four minutes left, but it was the Mustangs who finished the game with a 12-6 run for the 70-76 win.

Both teams opened the season with strong overall shooting percentages.  ECU hit .510 (25-of-49) percent of its shots, while SWMS went 27-of-52 for .509.  However, the key difference came from beyond the arc where the Mustangs hit half of their 24 attempts and the Tigers went just 4-of-16 (.250).

The Tigers will now prepare for Wayne State College, Saturday, Nov. 15 at 4 p.m. in Bruin Fieldhouse in the final game of the GAC/NSIC Challenge.