SPEARFISH, S.D. – The Black Hills State University men's basketball team came back to upset New Mexico Highlands University, 81-70, on Friday evening. The Yellow Jackets outscored the Cowboys, 62-33, in the final 22 minutes to earn the victory.

"I was very pleased with the effort and resolve of our team tonight. I thought we faced a lot of adversity, as we did not shoot the ball well early in the game, and NMHU made a bunch of tough shots early. However, our guys continued to stay the course, and stayed together as a team," said head coach Ryan Thompson. "Although it wasn't our cleanest game offensively, with taking care of the ball and shooting it, we did find a way to get quality shots on offense in key moments, and played with a ton of passion on the defensive end of the court."

Fraser Malcolm led the Yellow Jackets (8-8, 7-5 RMAC) with his second double-double of the year, scoring 27 points and pulling down 10 boards. The senior also had two assists and three steals. Makaleb McInnis recorded 18 points, while Stefan Desnica added 13. Tyler Oliver had eight points, seven rebounds, and seven assists.

The Cowboys (13-5, 8-4 RMAC), who entered the game in a tie for third place in the RMAC, came out firing on all cylinders. They jumped out to an eight point lead, 12-4, just over four minutes into the game, and eventually pushed their lead out to 18, 37-19, with 2:34 to play. However, the Yellow Jackets would not go down easily, and finished the half on a 10-0 run to get within eight, 37-29, at the break.

Early in the second half, New Mexico Highlands extended their lead to double-digits, but a three-pointer by McInnis with 14:56 left to play brought the Green and Gold within eight, 47-39.

With just over 10 minutes to play, and the Yellow Jackets down by nine, Malcolm made a layup to start a 24-5 run, which would put the home team up double-digits, 70-60. BHSU would not rest there, pushing its lead out to as many as 13, ultimately winning by 11, 81-70.

The Yellow Jackets trailed by a game-high 18 points, but outscored the Cowboys, 62-33, the rest of the way, to snap a five-game losing streak.

BHSU shot 51.8 percent from the field (29-for-56), while NMHU was 45.0 percent from the floor (27-for-60). The Yellow Jackets were 8-for-28 (28.6 percent) from beyond the arc, while the Cowboys were 10-for-33 (30.3 percent) on three-pointers. BHSU was 15-for-20 (75.0 percent) from the charity stripe, and NMHU was 6-for-8 (75.0 percent) from the free throw line. The Green and Gold outrebounded New Mexico Highlands, 36-30.

Gerad Davis led the Cowboys with 22 points. Raquan Mitchell, who averages over 20 points per game, was held to 12 points, while Jordan Jones scored 11.

The Green and Gold will next welcome Colorado State University-Pueblo on January 26. The game, which will be sponsored by the Kenadi Jean Weis Foundation, will tipoff at a special 7 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---