SPEARFISH, S.D. – The Black Hills State University men's basketball team found their footing in A2 Arena on Saturday night as they picked up their first home win of the year after a pair of heartbreaking losses with an 89-70 victory over Sioux Falls. Individually it was the Caelin Hearne show for the Yellow Jackets as he poured in a career-high 30 points with five 3-pointers in the contest, leading five players in double figures as the team notched a season-high in the score column. After a back-and-forth start to the contest, BHSU opened things up with an 18-2 scoring run late in the first half as they shot 62.1 percent in the first 20 minutes of action, and they eventually shot 54.0 percent from the field in the game.
 
QUICK DETAILS
Score: Black Hills State 89, Sioux Falls 70
Team Records: Black Hills State 3-3, Sioux Falls 3-2
Attendance: 1,422
 
HOW IT HAPPENED

• Starting with a turnaround jumper by Cam Lowe in the paint, Black Hills State knocked down their first three shots from the field to take an early 9-7 advantage following a top of the key 3-pointer by Caelin Hearne with 17:42 to play in the first half.
• In just 1:40 of game time Sioux Falls answered with an 8-0 scoring run sparked by back-to-back 3-pointers by Kyle Ingwerson and Noah Puetz to give the Cougars a 15-9 advantage with 15:45 on the clock. However, the Yellow Jackets shifted the momentum back their direction as they responded with an 8-0 run of their own to regain the lead at 17-15 after Joel Speckman secured an offensive rebound and put the ball in the basket with a turnaround jumper in the paint.
• The Coo held their final lead of the game at 21-20 after seven lead changes and four ties in the first nine minutes of action, but BHSU took complete control of the match-up with a commanding 18-2 scoring run which saw a jumper by Jaeton Hackley bounce in off the front of the rim and backboard after a bounce pass inside from Deegan Williams. The run for Black Hills State included 7-of-7 shooting at charity stripe.
• The Yellow Jackets led by as many as 18 points in the opening half as the sequence started with a blocked shot and defensive rebound by Lowe while he then quickly pushed the ball up the court and found John Shanklin on the right block for the layup off the pick and roll to make it a 51-33 ball game. A pair of free throws on the ensuing possession by Puetz and a basket at the buzzer via a goaltending call by Creighton Morisch cut the Sioux Falls deficit to 52-37 at the halftime break.
• Similar to the start of the game, the teams went back-and-forth to begin the second half which saw BHSU hold a 61-48 advantage with 14:50 to play at the under 16 media timeout of the second half. Each team saw a nearly three minute scoring drought midway through the second, however those were snapped by a reverse layup by Hearne for the Yellow Jackets with 12:36 on the clock and then the ensuing possession Ingwerson connected on a right wing 3-pointer with 12:19 remaining.
• The layup for Hearne was the first of seven straight points for him for the Green & Gold as he also knocked down a right wing 3-pointer and added a driving left handed layup to push the lead back to 17 points (68-51).
• The Cougars responded with a 6-0 run to claw back within 11 points (68-57) as Shawn Warrior found Morisch for a left handed layup off the pick and roll with 9:20 left in the contest, however, that would be the closest The Coo would get as the Yellow Jackets quickly answered with a 14-4 run as Hearne stepped back for a left wing 3-pointer to give Black Hills State their largest lead of the game at 21 points (82-61) with just 4:45 left on the clock.
• The Yellow Jackets ended the game by making eight of their final 12 shot attempts from the field in the last seven minutes of playing time. Their last basket was a layup by Lowe with 1:49 remaining, bringing the final score to 89-70, as Speckman found him cutting to the basket for his fifth assist of the match-up.

BLACK HILLS STATE STATISTICAL LEADERS
Caelin Hearne: 30 points, 5-of-6 3-pointers, 3 assists, 1 rebound
Cam Lowe: 15 points, 7-of-14 field goals, 8 rebounds, 3 assists
Joel Speckman: 11 points, 5-of-9 field goals, 5 assists, 4 rebounds, 1 steal
Deegan Williams: 11 points, 3-of-4 3-pointers, 3 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 block
Jaeton Hackley: 10 points, 4-of-5 field goals, 3 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals
 
UP NEXT
Black Hills State will begin a stretch of three consecutive games played in Rapid City on Friday, November 29, as they are set to play a neutral site match-up against UMary in a 4 p.m. tip-off in the King Center on the campus of South Dakota Mines.
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