Spearfish, S.D. – The Black Hills State men's basketball team lost to CSU-Pueblo by a score of 88-74 on Saturday night at the Donald E. Young Center. The loss drops the Jackets to 4-9 in RMAC play and 5-11 overall.

A lethal mixture of great shooting by the Thunderwolves and missed opportunities by the Yellow Jackets put Black Hills State down big early. CSU-Pueblo shot an impressive 58 percent from the field in the first half and 44 percent from behind the three-point arc. Black Hills State was down by 24 points, 43-19, before Tanner Adler (6-6, Deadwood, S.D.) took over. Adler scored the final nine points of the half for the Yellow Jackets to pull them within 19 points, 47-28, going into halftime.

Adler led the way for Black Hills State in the first half, scoring 17 of his game-high 27 in the opening 20 minutes. He shot 6-for-11 (54.5 percent) from the field and 3-for-5 (60 percent) from the three-point line in the first.

"I thought we committed too many turnovers in the first half," said head coach Bradd Schafer. "We really struggled with our transition defense and gave up a lot of good looks early."

The second half saw the Jackets fight hard but come up short. Every run made by Black Hills State was answered by the Thunderwolves. With 10 minutes left in the game, a Joey Mitchell (6-1, Tulare, S.D.) floater brought the Jackets to within 14 points, but this is as close as they would get. CSU-Pueblo never trailed in the game, thanks in large part to their efficient shooting and solid ball control all game long. The Thunderwolves shot 46.7 percent for the game and only committed 10 total turnovers.

A bright spot in the second half was the play of Mitchell, who scored 13 of his 15 points in the final period of play. Along with Mitchell, freshman Riley Ryan (6-5, Sheridan, Wyo.) provided a much-needed spark off the bench in the second half. Ryan scored eight points and snagged seven rebounds in the loss. Even though Black Hills State was trailing for the majority of the game, their energy never seemed to falter. The Jackets outscored the Thunderwolves 46-41 in the second half.

"I thought we did a great job of having good energy," said Schafer. "We competed hard for 40 minutes tonight and I'm very proud of our guys for that."

Black Hills State will return to action next weekend, Feb. 1-2, as they play host to Regis University and Metro State University.