SILVER CITY, N.M. – The Black Hills State University men's basketball team held off a late Western New Mexico University charge in a 59-54 win Friday night in Silver City, New Mexico.

The Yellow Jackets let a 17-point lead slip to just a single point with 47 seconds remaining but were able to hold off the Mustangs with two-straight three-point plays.

With the win, their second-straight, the Yellow Jackets improve their record to 6-11 overall and 4-6 in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference. Western New Mexico drops to 1-14, 1-10.

After falling behind 8-4, the Yellow Jackets put a defensive clamp on the Mustangs not allowing WNMU a basket for 6:15. In that time, Black Hills State opened a 15-8 lead.

The Green and Gold ended a 14-2 run, including the stretch of stingy defense, with a layup from Yoshio Allen to give BHSU an 18-10 lead. The Yellow Jackets continued to push the lead, opening an 11-point advantage when Nick Ongarato sank a 3-point basket for a 25-14 lead with 4:47 remaining in the first stanza.

Both offenses then hit the brakes, as neither team was able to convert another field goal going into intermission.

The Yellow Jackets came out of the break and quickly went on an 8-2 run to build a 33-16 lead with 16:32 remaining in the game.

However the Mustangs came storming back with an 18-4 run to cut the deficit to just three points at 37-34 with 9:25 remaining in regulation. The two squads kept the margin between three and five points throughout much of the remainder of the game.

After the Mustangs cut the lead to just one point at 44-43 on a pair of Adam Kesler free throws, the Yellow Jackets used a 6-0 run to build a seven-point lead with 3:21 left. The six points came on a layup and a jumper from Brody Brisk and a pair of shots from the charity stripe from Wyatt Krogman.

Not going away, Western New Mexico again cut the lead to one point, this time at 53-52 but Krogman had an old-fashioned three-point play when he was fouled on, and converted, a layup and free throw.

After Scott Terrez scored a layup on the ensuing Mustang possession, Ongarato hit Riley Ryan under the basket for an and-one play of his own. Ryan converted the free throw for the 59-54 lead with 21 seconds, the margin of victory for the Yellow Jackets.

Brisk scored a team-high 18 points and grabbed a team-best seven rebounds. Krogman scored 11 points as the Yellow Jackets shot 44 percent (22-50) from the floor. Terrez Scott scored a game-high 23 points for the Mustangs. Black Hills State held WNMU to 34.5 percent (20-58) shooting. 

Black Hills State travels from the Western part of New Mexico to the Northeastern portion of the state to face New Mexico Highlands University Saturday. Tipoff is slated for 7 p.m. in Las Vegas, New Mexico.