SPEARFISH, S.D. – The Yellow Jacket men's basketball team opened the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference schedule with a 77-66 victory over the University of Colorado Colorado Springs, on Friday evening.    

Makaleb McInnis led the way for the Yellow Jackets (4-1, 1-0 RMAC) with 20 points and seven rebounds. Dez Stoudamire scored 14 points, and Connor O'Hearn added 10. Fraser Malcolm recorded his four double-figure rebounding game of the year, pulling down 12 boards. He also scored nine points.

The Green and Gold scored the first two points of the game, with McInnis knocking down a jumper 34 seconds into the action. The score went back-and-forth for the first 13 minutes. Justin Smith made a jumper for the Mountain Lions (3-4, 0-1 RMAC) with 7:23 remaining in the half to tie the game, 21-21.

McInnis made a fast break layup to give BHSU a 23-21 lead, a lead that the home team would not relinquish for the rest of the game. The Yellow Jackets led by six, 37-31, at the break.

The second half began much the same as the first, with McInnis draining another shot, this time a three-pointer. Although the Green and Gold stretched the lead out to as many as 11, the Mountain Lions fought back to draw within two points with just under four minutes remaining in the game. However, the Yellow Jackets responded with a 14-3 run to finish the game, including a big trey by Connor O'Hearn with the shot clock running down to put BHSU up by 10 with 34 seconds left.

BHSU shot 38.8 percent from the field (26-for-67), while UCCS was 41.3 percent from the floor (26-for-63). The Yellow Jackets were 10-for-22 (45.5 percent) from beyond the arc, while the Mountain Lions were 4-for-18 (22.2 percent) on three-pointers. The Green and Gold were edged in rebounds, 77-66.

Jonathan Barnes, Justin Smith, and Elijah Ross all scored 12 points for the Mountain Lions.

The Green and Gold look to move to 2-0 in RMAC play on Saturday, December 2, when the team hosts MSU Denver. The game is scheduled to begin at 6 p.m.
  Black Hills State is located in the Northern Black Hills of South Dakota, sponsoring 13 NCAA sports with membership in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference, the NCAA emerging sport of women's triathlon and NIRA rodeo. For all information regarding Yellow Jacket Athletics, please visit BHSUAthletics.com or follow us on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram @BHSUAthletics.