SPEARFISH, S.D. – Behind five players in double-digit scoring, the Black Hills State University men's basketball team defeated Westminster College 81-77 in the Yellow Jackets home finale.

The evening began with a celebration of Senior Day, honoring Tate Hilgenkamp, Nick Ongarato and Riley Ryan in their final home game while honoring the past sporting throwback uniforms of Purple and Gold. The game ended with the Yellow Jackets setting an NCAA-era record for wins in a season and Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference wins as they improve to 11-12 overall and 9-10 in conference action.

The seniors got the Yellow Jackets started in the game as well, with Ongarato scoring the first Purple and Gold points followed by Ryan. It was Ryan's 3-point basket that gave the Yellow Jackets a 5-4 lead in the opening minutes.

After the two squads passed the lead back-and-forth, the Yellow Jackets grabbed their first solid lead of the game on a Patrick Mendes trey. His long-distance shot gave the Yellow jackets a 16-15 lead with 13:34 on the clock and would hold it until a Jordan Pryor trey knotted the game at 26-all with 7:53 remaining in the first half.

The two squads again played back-and-forth basketball through the remaining of the half that showed Westminster leading 45-44.

The second half saw the Griffins (11-12, 9-10 RMAC) jump out to a seven-point lead with Brandon Warr made a pair of free throws with 16:28 remaining in the game and a 53-46 score. However, a 7-0 run by the Yellow Jackets knotted the game up at 53-53. The run began with a Nick Ongarato 3-point basket and concluded with a pair of jumpers from Wyatt Krogman and Fraser Malcolm.

In a game that was exciting for fans, the lead continued to be passed around like a hot potato until a Malcom basket in the paint, along with the and-one free throw gave the Yellow Jackets a 71-69 lead with 3:15 remaining. A lead that would not be relinquished as Black Hills State pulled ahead by six points and held off the Griffins in the closing minutes for the 81-77 final score.

Ryan scored a game-high 15 points while Malcom scored 14 on 5-of-7 shooting. Ongarato added 13, Krogman 12 and Mendes 11 as Max Mueller missed out on a double-double narrowly with nine points and 10 rebounds. Quincy Bair led Westminster with 20 points.

Black Hills State, who still holds hope of qualifying for the RMAC Tournament, travels to the University of Colorado Colorado Springs on Friday for a 7:30 p.m. tipoff, followed by a meeting with MSU Denver on Saturday at 7 p.m. The regular season closes out Wednesday, February 24, with a meeting at South Dakota Mines.