COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – Behind 31 points from Nick Ongarato and 21 from Riley Ryan, the Black Hills State University men's basketball team avenged an earlier loss on the season to the University of Colorado Colorado Springs with a 91-80 victory Friday night.

Black Hills State shot 54.8 percent (34-of-62) from the field in the victory, to win its third-straight game and improve to 12-12 overall and 10-10 in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference. The 12 wins are the most for the Yellow Jackets, since winning 26 games in 2010-11, the final season in NAIA play.

The Yellow Jackets led from start to finish, including taking a 10-3 lead in the opening minutes. All 10 points came off the hands of Ongarato, who began the game with a layup, a jump shot and a pair of 3-point baskets.

Black Hills State rode the hot start to a 50-43 halftime lead.

Coming out of the intermission, the Green and Gold went on a quick 10-2 run to stretch the lead to 60-45 with 17:03 remaining in the game when Max Mueller grabbed an offensive rebounds and went straight up for the basket.

The Yellow Jacket lead continued to balloon, reaching as many as 20 points when Ryan made a 3-point basket with 9:49 remaining in the game for the 77-57 lead.

The lead would continue to hover between 15 and 20 points throughout the remaining of the game, with the exception of the closing minutes with the Mountain Lions snagging some points quickly for the final score of 91-80.

Ongarato, along with tying a career-best with 31 points, tallied a career-best with eight assists and grabbed a team-high five rebounds. Ryan tallied 21 points while Wyatt Krogman assisted on five-made field goals. Alex Welsh scored 26 points for the Mountain Lions, who fall to 16-11 and 13-7 in the RMAC.

Black Hills State committed a season-low six turnovers while never trailing in the game. The Mountain Lions tied the game just once, where the Green and Gold answered six seconds later with an Ongarato trey.

The Yellow Jackets look to carry the momentum of the three-game win streak to MSU Denver for a 7 p.m. contest Saturday.