BROOKINGS It wasnt pretty, but the South Dakota State men came away with a 68-62 win over Dakota State on Thursday night at First Bank & Trust Arena.
Coming off of a season-opening win over Merrimack on Monday, SDSU got off to a nice start as the Jackrabbits led 12-6 five and half minutes into the game. Dakota State cut the lead to 16-15 but the Jacks pushed the lead to 26-18 with 8:19 to go in the first half.
DSU would take its first lead of the game with 1:25 to go in the half as the Trojans used a 13-2 run to go up 33-32. Back-to-back 3-pointers from Kalen Garry and Jaden Jackson gave SDSU a 38-33 lead at halftime.
The Trojans made it 43-42 just over three minutes into the second half. The two teams traded buckets until a 10-2 run from SDSU put the Jacks up 59-50 with nine minutes to play. DSU wouldnt go away though as the Trojans used a 7-1 run to make it 62-60 with 4:40 to go. However, Jackson would come through for the Jacks in the clutch as he hit back-to-back 3-pointers in a span of a minute to make it 68-60 and that put the game away.
SDSU shot 49% from the field and was 9-of-23 from three. The Jacks were 9-of-16 at the free throw line.
After scoring 23 points on Monday, Jackson led the Jacks again on Thursday with 20 points. Joe Sayler was the only other Jackrabbit in double figures with 11 points and four assists. Garry had nine points and seven rebounds. Matthew Mors had seven points and five rebounds.
DSU shot 42.6% from the field and was 8-of-24 from three. Nathan Ojukwu led the Trojans with 15 points, six rebounds and four assists. Brayden Pankonen had nine points.
SDSU held a 34-28 advantage in rebounds. The Jacks had 15 turnovers and the Trojans had 15. SDSU had 30 points in the paint and the Trojans had 26.
The Jacks will play outside the state of South Dakota for the first time on Sunday as the Jacks will take on Northern Iowa on the road at 1 p.m. SDSU will then play at Oregon on Wednesday at 8:30 p.m.
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