GUNNISON, Colo. – Four Yellow Jackets scored in double figures, as the Black Hills State University men's basketball team defeated Western State Colorado University, 77-69, on Friday evening, remaining undefeated in conference play.   

Stefan Desnica led the way for the Yellow Jackets (7-3, 6-0 RMAC) with 19 points and seven rebounds. Tyler Oliver recorded 13 points, while Dez Stoudamire had 12, and Connor O'Hearn added 10 points.

Neither team was able to get on the board in the first two minutes of the game, but with 17:52 on the clock, Stoudamire tallied a layup to put BHSU up, 2-0. Most of the first half remained a battle between the teams, with the Yellow Jackets holding a narrow lead for most of the period, but unable to pull away from the Mountaineers (3-9, 0-6 RMAC). With 1:38 left in the half, Antonio Capley scored to give the Green and Gold their largest lead of the game, 29-21, and the visitors led by seven at the break.

The Yellow Jackets opened the second half scoring five straight points, but Western used a 12-0 run to tie the game up, 35-35, with 14:54 remaining in the game. A pair of jumpers by Makaleb McInnis and Capley put BHSU back up by four, and they would hold on to the lead in the final 15 minutes. The Mountaineers got as close as two points, but in the final few minutes of the game, the Yellow Jackets pushed their lead out to as many as 11, and always looked in control of the result, ultimately winning, 69-77.

The Green and Gold are now 6-0 in Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference play, and are one of just two teams who have not lost a league game (Colorado School of Mines). The last time the Yellow Jackets won six games in a row was the 2010-11 season, when BHSU won 10 consecutive games en route to winning the Dakota Athletic Conference and making a run to the second round of the NAIA National Tournament.

BHSU shot 42.9 percent from the field (24-for-56), while WSCU was 38.1 percent from the floor (24-for-63). The Yellow Jackets were 6-for-25 (24.0 percent) from beyond the arc, while the Mountaineers were 8-for-26 (30.8 percent) on three-pointers. BHSU was 23-for-31 (74.2 percent) from the charity stripe, and Western was 13-for-16 (81.3 percent) from the free throw line. The Green and Gold outrebounded Western Colorado, 41-34.

Quincy Harding led the Mountaineers with 15 points, while Cole Sienknecht added 12.

The Green and Gold will next be in action at Colorado Mesa on January 5. The game is scheduled to tipoff 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---