Spearfish, SD – In a late second half battle full of fouls and excellent clock management, The Black Hills State University men's basketball team outplayed the Western Colorado Mountaineers winning 78-74. The Yellow Jackets are now 7-5 on the season and 4-2 in RMAC play.

"I thought we were a little rusty tonight after the holiday break," said head coach Ryan Thompson.  "But, we need to give Western Colorado a lot of credit as they played with more energy than us throughout the game.  Despite not playing our best basketball, I thought our guys did an excellent job of executing late game situations down the stretch."
 
The Mountaineers kept it close the first half and the Yellow Jackets entered the second half with a slight two point advantage. The two teams would keep it tight until 8 minutes in the second half when WCU took the lead by one. The Yellow Jackets went on a 12-2 run shortly thereafter forcing the Mountaineers to scramble. With a minute left of play, WCU's James Willis drained a three pointer and picked up the extra point. Another WCU three-pointer cut the Yellow Jackets lead to just two with 15 seconds remaining. An intentional foul to slow the Mountaineers followed by two good free throws by Antonio Capley sealed the game for the Yellow Jackets.
 
On the night, the Green and Gold were good for 57 percent from the field, 39 percent from beyond the arc, and 68 percent from the charity stripe. The team was led by Joel Scott who posted 24 points making 10 of 13 buckets and three free throws.
 
Stefan Desnica had a balanced night, shooting 7 for 12 from the field posting a total of 17 points. He also pulled down six boards. Tyler Oliver and Trey Whitley were also in double digits scoring 14 and 13 points respectively.
 
The Yellow Jackets look to make it five home wins in a row tomorrow against Colorado Mesa University. Tip off is scheduled for 6:00pm.
 

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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.
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