CHADRON, Neb. – A poor shooting first half doomed the Black Hills State University men's basketball team in its Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference road opener Friday night against Chadron State.

The Yellow Jackets (2-3, 0-1 RMAC) fell 74-59 after scoring just 18 first-half points against the Eagles (4-2, 2-0 RMAC) on 22 percent shooting (6-of-27). The Green and Gold improved two-fold in the second half to 50 percent on 17-of-34 shooting to close the game shooting 37.7 percent. Chadron State countered with 50 percent shooting (13-of-26) in the first half and 42.9 percent (9-of-21) in the second stanza.

Nick Ongarato, the reigning RMAC Offensive Player of the Week, led the way with a game-high 18 points for the Yellow Jackets while Fraser Malcolm and Wyatt Krogman each added 12 points apiece. The Eagles held Riley Ryan, who entered scoring over 18 points per game, to just four points on 2-of-7 shooting.

Warren Gordon was the leading scoring for Chadron state with 15 points as Sharif Black added 14 and Matt Reader with 12.

A 17-3 run by the Eagles propelled Chadron to a 26-8 lead with 6:15 remaining in the first half. The run was aided by a 10-0 start that was briefly interrupted by a Nick Ongarato dunk. The only other Yellow Jacket point came on a Tate Hilgenkamp free throw.

Black Hills State could not slow down the Eagles as the home squad entered the intermission with a 38-18 lead.

Chadron State kept the pressure on in the second half building a lead as high as 27 points with 8:39 remaining in the game. However, the Green and Gold continually chipped away at the lead, outscoring the Eagles 26-14 from that moment on.

For the first time this year, the Yellow Jackets were out-rebounded as the Eagles held the 42-27 edge, including a 22-8 edge in the second-chance points. Ongarato grabbed a team-high six rebounds while Sharif Black owned a game-high nine for CSC.

The Yellow Jackets look to rebound on the concluding end of their first road trip of the season at Regis University on Saturday. Tipoff is slated for 5:30 p.m.