SALT LAKE CITY – The Black Hills State University men's basketball team was unable to recover from a slow start in an 83-56 loss Saturday night to Westminster College in Salt Lake City, Utah.

After Patrick Mendes scored a layup to make the score 8-4 in favor of the home team, Westminster went on a 13-0 run to open a 21-4 lead over the Yellow Jackets with 10:41 remaining in the first half.

Back-to-back Yellow Jacket baskets brought a small stop to the run as Zach McLemore hit a step-back 3-point basket followed by a Jonas Anderson layup for the 21-9 score. However, the Griffins kept pouring on the points and the Yellow Jackets couldn't find the offensive rhythm with WC entering intermission with a 35-17 lead.

Westminster continued to control the second half as the Yellow Jackets drop their eighth-straight game to fall to 5-15 overall and 2-12 in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference. Westminster improves to 9-6 overall and 9-4 in the loop.

Mendes led the Yellow Jackets with nine points while McLemore and Fraser Malcolm each added eight points apiece. Malcolm also grabbed a team-high four rebounds. Dayon Goodman scored a game-high 15 points and grabbed a game-high 13 rebounds for the Griffins.

The Yellow Jackets are set to play their next five games in the friendly confines of the Young Center beginning Friday night with a 7:30 p.m. tipoff against Colorado Mesa. The Mavericks are 0-7 on the road in 2016-17 while sitting in

The five-game homestand concludes the Yellow Jackets home schedule with the return of former head coach Bradd Schafer and Western State on January 28, MSU Denver and UCCS visiting on February 3 and 4, respectively and a rematch with South Dakota Mines on February 11.