Brookings, S.D. – Tanner Adler had a monster opening exhibition game as he scored 32 points in the Yellow Jackets 66-89 loss to South Dakota State.
Adler shot the ball efficiently from all over the court, highlighted by his seven 3-pointers (7-of-11). Adler also added 10 points from the field (5-of-10).
The Yellow Jackets got out to a slow start, falling behind 33-7 with seven minutes remaining in the first half. Led by the efforts of Adler, the Yellow Jackets found their stride and went on a 26-11 run. Adler had 16 of his 32 points in the first half. Sophomore Brody Brisk added seven points to help the Yellow Jackets' offense. BHSU trailed just 15 points, 30-45, headed into halftime. Cameron Anderson and Brady Bisgaard led the Yellow Jackets with three rebounds each in the first half.
"I thought Tanner did an unbelievable job of just getting in a rhythm," said head coach Bradd Schafer. "I thought he was kind of the guy to spark our offense and was the guy to get us to cut it down to 15 in the first half."
In the second half, Adler continued to lead the Yellow Jackets with 16 points. Sophomore Joey Mitchell started to feel comfortable as he added seven points, including 4-of-4 from the stripe in the second half. BHSU was able to get to the free throw line 20 times during the final 20 minutes.
Schafer said he was impressed with Adler's versatility as a scorer.
"He did it from all over the court; 3's, pull-ups, he went to the rim. I couldn't be more proud of him," said Schafer.
BHSU was able to hold standout guard Nate Wolters to just nine points. Off the bench, Taevaunn Prince led the Jackrabbits with 17 points.
As a team, Schafer liked the Yellow Jackets ability to battle back after their slow start and identified their 26-11 run as a testament to his team's fight.
"Usually when you are playing against a Division I team, you can hang around and they are able to stretch it at the end," said Schafer. "For us to fight back in it and we never quit and we always competed. There are a ton of positives to take from this game and learn from our mistakes and get better for Saturday night."
Schafer identified defense and rebounding as areas of focus for the Yellow Jackets.
The Yellow Jackets finished the game 16-of-23 (69.6 percent) from the free throw line. BHSU shot 34.5 percent from the field going 20-of-58. Cameron Anderson led the Yellow Jackets on the boards with six rebounds.
The Yellow Jackets will cap-off exhibition play when they travel to Dickinson State on Saturday. BHSU's first regular season game will be at Montana State University – Billings on Nov. 10.
