SPEARFISH, S.D. – Zach McLemore and Fraser Malcolm combined for 53 while the Black Hills State University men's basketball team defeated Western State 85-72 Saturday in the Young Center. McLemore tallied a BHSU-season best 28 points while Malcolm scored a career-best 25 points.

The Yellow Jackets won their second-straight game for their first Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference sweep of 2016-17 and improve to 7-15 overall and 4-12 in league play. Western State falls to 5-14, 4-11.

The two squads played hot potato with the lead over the first five minutes of action until Hoyt Nicholas hit a jumper in the paint with 14:17 remaining in the first half to give BHSU a 14-12 lead. The Green and Gold quickly built its lead to nine points at 26-17 when Connor O'Hearn and Malcolm made back-to-back 3-point baskets.

However, Western State didn't go away quietly as it cut the deficit down to two points utilizing a 10-3 run concluding with a Ray Beresford trey with 7:20 left in the first half and a 29-27 score.

A very quick 12-2 Yellow Jacket run rebuilt the lead to 13 points at 44-31. The run began with back-to-back treys from Malcolm, followed with a 3-point basket from McLemore. The only WSCU points in the run came from a jumper by Brady Subart but the Yellow Jackets run concluded when Max Mueller found Nicholas open for a 3-point basket.

Black Hills State would then enter halftime with a 50-42 lead. The two squads would play nearly even basketball in the second half. With 3:46 remaining, McLemore dropped a 3-point basket assisted from O'Hearn, one of his seven assists on the night, to give BHSU a 12-point advantage at 79-67.

The lead would grow as large as 16 points, thanks to a jumper in the paint from Malcolm and four free throws from McLemore sandwiched around a pair of free throws by WSCU to make the lead of 85-69. That would lead to the final score of 85-72 capping a perfect weekend for the Green and Gold.

Black Hills State was aided by nine rebounds leading to 16 second-chance points. The Green and Gold totaled 17 assists on 27 made field goals led by O'Hearn's seven assists. He added 10 points to the effort as McLemore scored the most points in a Yellow Jacket uniform with his 28 points. Malcolm surpassed his previous career-best of 19 points with his 25-point output.

Ben Beauchamp scored a game-high 32 points for Western State on 8-of-17 shooting including 11-of-12 from the charity stripe.

Max Mueller grabbed a game-high 11 rebounds, his fourth double-digit rebound performance of the year and eighth of his career.

Black Hills State continues its five-game homestand next weekend hosting MSU Denver on Friday at 7:30 p.m. and the University of Colorado Colorado Springs Saturday at 6 p.m. Saturday's game is Senior Night, to help celebrate Mueller's career with the Yellow Jackets.