SPEARFISH, S.D. – Dez Stoudamire made seven three-pointers, as the Black Hills State University men's basketball team dominated Westminster, 88-55, on Friday evening in the Yellow Jackets' home opener.     

Stoudamire finished with a career-high 24 points to lead the Yellow Jackets (3-3, 2-0 RMAC). The senior was 7-for-10 from beyond the arc. Fraser Malcolm added 16 points, and Connor O'Hearn made four three-pointers of his own to record 14 points. Stefan Desnica had eight rebounds, and Antonio Capley pulled down seven boards.

The Yellow Jackets jumped out to a 5-0 lead, forcing Westminster (3-3, 1-1 RMAC) into an early timeout. However, BHSU would not let up, leading, 10-0, before the Griffins got on the board. O'Hearn set the tone early, making all four of his three-pointers in the first eight minutes of the game, as the Green and Gold led, 21-4, with 12:26 to play in the first half. A trey by Stoudamire with 5:24 left in the period gave the Yellow Jackets their largest lead of the half at 33-13. The home team would lead, 40-23, at the break.

The Griffins came out of halftime, and were able to cut the lead to 14, but BHSU used a 13-0 run to put the game away for good, as the Yellow Jackets led by 27, 58-31, with 13:36 to play. Everyone got in on the fun, as Spencer Ederhoff drained a three with just under three minutes to play to put the Green and Gold up by a game-high 38 points. They eventually won the game handily, 88-55, to remain undefeated in RMAC play.

BHSU shot 50.0 percent from the field (28-for-56), while WC was 40.4 percent from the floor (21-for-52). The Yellow Jackets were 15-for-30 (50.0 percent) from beyond the arc, while the Griffins were 5-for-14 (35.7 percent) on three-pointers. BHSU was 17-for-20 (85.0 percent) from the charity stripe, and Westminster was 8-for-16 (50.0) from the free throw line. The Green and Gold outrebounded WC, 35-30. The Yellow Jackets forced 16 turnovers, scoring 22 points off the takeaways.  

Stoudamire's seven three-pointers are tied for the second most in a single game for the Yellow Jackets. O'Hearn tied his career-high of four treys made. Trey Winkler and Edin Hanuša each scored the first points of their careers' at BHSU, with Hanuša also pulling down three boards.

Alec Monson led the Griffins with 15 points, while Joonas Tahvanainen had 10.

The Green and Gold will next welcome Dixie State on December 8. The game is scheduled to tip off at 6 p.m.  

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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.

---BHSUAthletics.com---