SPEARFISH, S.D. – Behind a season-best game from freshman Connor O'Hearn and 10 rebounds from Stefan Desnica, the Black Hills State University men's basketball team snapped its losing skid in a 73-61 victory over Colorado Mesa Friday night.

O'Hearn and Desnica each made their first career starts while Fraser Malcolm tallied a game-high 17 points as the Yellow Jackets led for over 38 minutes of the game to snap their eight-game losing skid and claim the first victory of 2017.

Nate Hawley hit a 3-point basket to open the game for Colorado Mesa but was quickly answered by a Malcolm layup and a high-percentage shot in the paint from Max Mueller to give BHSU an early 4-3 lead. Eimer Lopez hit a jumper to give the Mavericks their last lead of the game as the Green and Gold opened up a 10-point lead at 22-12 with 11:21 to go in the game on a LD Thomas long-range basket.

The Yellow Jacket lead never grew larger than 12 points in the first half, a margin hit with 17 seconds to go on a free throw from Malcolm. However, a trey from Brandon Hoffer cut the lead to just nine points at 40-31 as the halftime buzzer sounded.

The largest lead of the game came in the opening minutes of the second stanza with a quick 4-0 run with a pair of jump shots off the hands of Malcolm and Mueller for the 44-31 lead, using the home court advantage of the Young Center, a place the Green and Gold had not been in nearly three weeks.  

Colorado Mesa (5-15, 4-10 RMAC) then went on a 7-0 run to cut the deficit to just six points with 14:06 on the clock, but the run was thwarted when O'Hearn found Hoyt Nicholas open for the 3-point basket.

Black Hills State (6-15, 3-12 RMAC) rebuilt its lead to 11 points on a Malcolm layup at 58-47 with 8:19 remaining, a lead the Green and Gold would not relinquish throughout the remainder of the game.

With time winding down, CMU tried to extend the game as much as possible but Connor O'Hearn went 5-of-6 from the free throw line and Fraser Malcolm 6-of-6 in the final 1:07 to seal the 73-61 victory.

Malcom tallied the game-high 17 points and nearly had a double-double with eight rebounds to lead a quartet of Yellow Jackets in double-figure points. O'Hearn scored 15 points and dished a Yellow Jacket season-best six assists in his first career start. Mueller and Thomas each added 11 points apiece while Desnica grabbed a team-high 10 rebounds in his first-career start.

Colorado Mesa as led by Connor Nichols with 13 points.

Overall, the Yellow Jackets dominated the paint with 28 points inside the lane while scored second-chance points. Black Hills State shot 47.3 percent (26-55) from the field while holding CMU to 35.2 percent (19-of-54) shooting. The Green and Gold also won the rebound battle 39-30.

The Yellow Jackets continue a five-game homestand on Saturday, hosting Western State at 6 p.m. The game features the return of former BHSU head coach Bradd Schaefer, who is now patrolling the WSCU sidelines. Western State won 91-81 Friday night at South Dakota Mines.