SPEARFISH, S.D. – The Black Hills State University men's basketball team was unable to carry the momentum of Friday night's victory to tonight, falling 66-61 to Colorado Christian University.

Black Hills State shot 45.1 percent (23-of-51) from the field with Fraser Malcolm leading the way with a game-high 18 points but could not overcome four double-digit scorers from CCU as BHSU falls to 4-6 overall and 1-3 in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference. CCU improves to 6-4 on the season and 3-1 in the loop.

The Cougars took control early in the game, although they didn't put a large point margin between the two squads, they did build a lead as big as 10 points with 4:11 remaining in the first half. Black Hills State was able to cut the margin to five points with CCU entering intermission with a 35-30 lead.

The second half saw the Yellow Jackets stay between four and seven points until the midway point of the half when Sam McCloud sank a pair free throws followed by a steal from LD Thomas leading to a wide open Fraser Malcolm 3-point basket. The long-range shot gave BHSU the lead at 53-52 with 9:18 remaining in the game.

That lead was then built to five points on a Patrick Mendes jumper in the paint and a pair of Jonas Anderson free throws. After Colorado Christian made a pair of free throws of their own, Anderson hit a jump shot and Zach McLemore went to the charity stripe sinking to free throws for a 61-54 lead with 4:00 on the clock.

However, the Yellow Jacket offense stalled the final four minutes as CCU was able to end the game on a 12-0 run for the 66-61 victory.

After Malcolm's 18 points and team-high seven rebounds, Mendes had 12 points for the Yellow Jackets. Colorado Christian was led by Dimitri Saliba with 16 points as Ty McGee added 12 points with Stefan Hackethal and Andre Lane each adding 11 points apiece.

Black Hills State continues its stay in the Young Center next weekend, hosting Regis on Friday at 7:30 p.m. and Chadron State Saturday at 6 p.m.