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Feb. 21—BROOKINGS, S.D. — In a game that was all offense for nearly the entire 40 minutes, the South Dakota State men's basketball team found some defense when it needed it.
The Jackrabbits closed the game on an 8-0 run and held the previously hot-shooting Fighting Hawks of North Dakota to only five points in the final 5 minutes of game time for a 91-83 SDSU win on Saturday at First Bank and Trust Arena.
After a Wednesday loss to league-leading North Dakota State, SDSU (13-16, 6-8 Summit) salvaged a split in the two home games for the week against the Summit League foes from North Dakota.
It was only the third time this season that SDSU has won a game in which it trailed at halftime, as SDSU was previously 2-14 in those contests.
"I'm hoping we can bundle this up and our guys can gain confidence and show, 'We can do this.' Because we know we have it in us and we've shown moments of it. We just haven't stacked it together quite as much as we all know we can," Jackrabbit head coach Bryan Petersen said. "UND played well and obviously got off to a really good start in the first half. For us to be able to get key stops at the end of the game was really good for us."
After trailing by as many as 11 points in the first half, SDSU had a late charge before halftime to get within two points at 44-42. The Jacks momentarily had the lead early in the second half and tied the game late with 2:45 left at 81-all. Kalen Garry had a layup to go up two points that was answered by UND's Garrett Anderson to tie it at 83-83 and then Garry made the decisive 3-pointer on the next possession with 1:27 left, putting SDSU up 86-83. UND didn't score again and the Jacks made five free throws in the final 36 seconds to seal the victory.
Garry and SDSU coach Bryan Petersen both said SDSU's ability to get a few defensive stops — in a game in which offense reigned — came down to giving a "little more" effort when the Hawks had the ball.
"Throughout practice this week and honestly, throughout the last couple of games, we've really just been working on, 'How do we give a little more at the end of the game to get stops,'" Garry said. "We were fortunate enough to make a miss at the end there and have a couple of shots fall. It's a good feeling."
Joe Sayler had 23 points and eight rebounds, including 14 points in the second half to lead all scorers and the Jacks, who had all five starters in double figures. Matthew Mors, one of the Jacks' two seniors playing in SDSU's final home game of the season, had 18 points on 7-for-10 shooting and seven rebounds. Damon Wilkinson scored 15 points and Garry and Jaden Jackson each scored 13 for SDSU.
On Senior Day for the Jacks, it was Mors who made many of the 50/50 plays that gave SDSU the winning edge in front of 3,415 fans in the building.
"He gives so much to this team, not only on the court but off the court as well," Garry said. "He played his heart out tonight and we're so grateful to have him as a leader, just being there to make all the hustle plays."
After being swept by NDSU and St. Thomas this season, SDSU's win was the team's first against the current top-three of the Summit standings. UND was in the No. 3 slot in the standings entering Saturday.
"The standard here at South Dakota State is extremely high. And so our expectations every year is to be at the top and then obviously beat the teams at the top," Petersen said. "Obviously we wish it would have happened a little bit earlier ... but it was fun to do it in our last home game here in front of these fans."
The Fighting Hawks (16-15, 10-5 Summit) shot 51.7% from the field in the game and that percentage was close to 60% for a lot of the contest but UND was 3 for 12 from the field in the last 6 minutes of the contest. Greyson Uelmen had 19 points, with 18 points from Garrett Anderson and 14 for Eli King to pace the Hawks.
UND coach Paul Sather said it was a hard-fought game but he pointed to the hustle stats as being the critical difference. The Fighting Hawks lost the second-chance scoring battle 18-5 and gave up 14 offensive rebounds to the Jacks, who won the overall rebounding edge 40-25.
"They beat us in points off turnovers, they beat us in second chance points, and in the middle of all that, both teams had a lot of guys out there making plays and playing really hard," Sather said. "And so credit (SDSU). But I'm not going to hang my head about this game and how we played. ... You've just got to make some of those winning plays late."
The Jacks, who were seventh in the Summit standings going into Saturday, end the regular season on Thursday at Kansas City and on Saturday at rival South Dakota.
"I think we'll watch the film and we'll see some of these plays that we made in key moments that we've talked about, maybe in previous games that we haven't," Petersen said. "Our guys need to see that on film and then we need to continue to build up their confidence. And when you have success, hopefully that gives you more confidence."
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The Jackrabbits closed the game on an 8-0 run and held the previously hot-shooting Fighting Hawks of North Dakota to only five points in the final 5 minutes of game time for a 91-83 SDSU win on Saturday at First Bank and Trust Arena.
After a Wednesday loss to league-leading North Dakota State, SDSU (13-16, 6-8 Summit) salvaged a split in the two home games for the week against the Summit League foes from North Dakota.
It was only the third time this season that SDSU has won a game in which it trailed at halftime, as SDSU was previously 2-14 in those contests.
"I'm hoping we can bundle this up and our guys can gain confidence and show, 'We can do this.' Because we know we have it in us and we've shown moments of it. We just haven't stacked it together quite as much as we all know we can," Jackrabbit head coach Bryan Petersen said. "UND played well and obviously got off to a really good start in the first half. For us to be able to get key stops at the end of the game was really good for us."
After trailing by as many as 11 points in the first half, SDSU had a late charge before halftime to get within two points at 44-42. The Jacks momentarily had the lead early in the second half and tied the game late with 2:45 left at 81-all. Kalen Garry had a layup to go up two points that was answered by UND's Garrett Anderson to tie it at 83-83 and then Garry made the decisive 3-pointer on the next possession with 1:27 left, putting SDSU up 86-83. UND didn't score again and the Jacks made five free throws in the final 36 seconds to seal the victory.
Garry and SDSU coach Bryan Petersen both said SDSU's ability to get a few defensive stops — in a game in which offense reigned — came down to giving a "little more" effort when the Hawks had the ball.
"Throughout practice this week and honestly, throughout the last couple of games, we've really just been working on, 'How do we give a little more at the end of the game to get stops,'" Garry said. "We were fortunate enough to make a miss at the end there and have a couple of shots fall. It's a good feeling."
Joe Sayler had 23 points and eight rebounds, including 14 points in the second half to lead all scorers and the Jacks, who had all five starters in double figures. Matthew Mors, one of the Jacks' two seniors playing in SDSU's final home game of the season, had 18 points on 7-for-10 shooting and seven rebounds. Damon Wilkinson scored 15 points and Garry and Jaden Jackson each scored 13 for SDSU.
On Senior Day for the Jacks, it was Mors who made many of the 50/50 plays that gave SDSU the winning edge in front of 3,415 fans in the building.
"He gives so much to this team, not only on the court but off the court as well," Garry said. "He played his heart out tonight and we're so grateful to have him as a leader, just being there to make all the hustle plays."
After being swept by NDSU and St. Thomas this season, SDSU's win was the team's first against the current top-three of the Summit standings. UND was in the No. 3 slot in the standings entering Saturday.
"The standard here at South Dakota State is extremely high. And so our expectations every year is to be at the top and then obviously beat the teams at the top," Petersen said. "Obviously we wish it would have happened a little bit earlier ... but it was fun to do it in our last home game here in front of these fans."
The Fighting Hawks (16-15, 10-5 Summit) shot 51.7% from the field in the game and that percentage was close to 60% for a lot of the contest but UND was 3 for 12 from the field in the last 6 minutes of the contest. Greyson Uelmen had 19 points, with 18 points from Garrett Anderson and 14 for Eli King to pace the Hawks.
UND coach Paul Sather said it was a hard-fought game but he pointed to the hustle stats as being the critical difference. The Fighting Hawks lost the second-chance scoring battle 18-5 and gave up 14 offensive rebounds to the Jacks, who won the overall rebounding edge 40-25.
"They beat us in points off turnovers, they beat us in second chance points, and in the middle of all that, both teams had a lot of guys out there making plays and playing really hard," Sather said. "And so credit (SDSU). But I'm not going to hang my head about this game and how we played. ... You've just got to make some of those winning plays late."
The Jacks, who were seventh in the Summit standings going into Saturday, end the regular season on Thursday at Kansas City and on Saturday at rival South Dakota.
"I think we'll watch the film and we'll see some of these plays that we made in key moments that we've talked about, maybe in previous games that we haven't," Petersen said. "Our guys need to see that on film and then we need to continue to build up their confidence. And when you have success, hopefully that gives you more confidence."
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