Eagles push RMAC's top team to the limit in Spearfish
By: Con Marshall, CSC Sports Information
SPEARFISH, S..D. -- February 15, 2020 -- The Chadron State College men's basketball team proved it can still compete Saturday night, when it put up a good fight before Black Hills State hung on for a 93-87 win in Spearfish.
The Yellow Jackets, now 19-6 overall and 16-3 and tied for first in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference, outscored the Eagles by just three points in each half. The hosts never led by more than eight.
As he closed his broadcast, the voice of the Eagles, Dave Collins, declared "Chadron State "has given a great effort against one of the best teams in the conference."
As has been the case in several other close games that the Eagles lost this season, they outscored the opponent from the field, but free throws decided the difference.
Chadron State shot 50.7 percent, making 34 of 67 field goal shots, including 11 of 26 from 3-point range, for 79 points. The Yellow Jackets sank 54.1 percent from the field, hitting 33 of 61 shots, including six of 19 from behind the arc, for 72 points.
But Black Hills was 21 of 28 at the free throw line and the Eagles just eight of 10.
The Eagles led most of the first 10 minutes, including 23-18 with 10:04 showing on the clock to match their biggest lead of the night. Black Hills was ahead 41-38 at halftime, but five points by center Jacob Jefferson to open the second half put the Eagles ahead 43-42.
That was the last time CSC was ahead. But the Eagles never went away. They tied the score at 54-54, 61-61 and 64-64 before Black Hills took the lead for keeps.
Making nine of 10 free throws in the last 8:31 helped hold off the visitors.
Trey Whitley, a 6-foot-1 junior, led the Yellow Jackets with 28 points, coming on 10 of 15 from the field and eight of nine at the line. He also had a team-high eight rebounds and three steals. Two weeks ago in Chadron, Whitley tallied 37 points and stole the ball six times during Black Hills' 97-74 victory
Black Hills also got 23 points from 6-7 freshman Joel Scott on nine of 12 from the field, including three treys, and a pair of charity shots. Sava Dudic added 14 points, but senior Tyler Oliver, who poured in 22 points against the Eagles in the earlier meeting, was scoreless Saturday night during 18 minutes of action.
Chadron State got a terrific performance from senior Michael Sparks. He was 8 of 13 from the field, including five of seven from behind the arc, and three of four from the line for 24 points.
Forward Brian Rodriguez added 17 points and a game-high nine rebounds. Jefferson chipped in 14 points and point guard Colby Jackson 12. Both were six of eight from the field.
CSC Coach Houston Reed said that although the loss was disappointing, he was proud of his team's performance.
"They stepped up tonight," Reed said. "It was still a loss, but we confronted a really good team and showed we're a good team."
Chadron State--Michael Sparks 24, Brian Rodriguez 17, Jacob Jefferson 14, Colby Jackson 12, Brady Delimont 7, Kayden Sund 6, Andre Sepeda 6, Kenan Gray 1. Totals: 34-67 (11-26) 8-10, 87 points, 31 rebounds, 11 turnovers.
Black Hills State--Trey Whitley 28, Joel Scott 23, Sava Dudic 14, Stefan Desnica 9, Snjolfur Steffansson 8, Tommy Donovan 8, Antonio Capley 3. Totals: 33-61 (6-19) 21-28, 93 points, 35 rebounds, 8 turnovers.
Chadron State 38 49 ----87
Black Hills State 41 52 ----93
3-pointers: CSC--Sparks 5, Rodriguez 2, Sund 2, Jefferson 1, Delimont 1. BHSU--Scott 3, Dukic 3.
Season high 32 turnovers doom CSC at Black Hills
By: John Murphy, CSC Sports Information Assistant
SPEARFISH, S.D. -- Black Hills State scored 29 points off 32 CSC turnovers Saturday night in Spearfish S.D., helping the Yellow Jackets defeat the Eagles 72-49.
The loss drops the Eagles to 5-23 on the season and 3-16 in the RMAC. Black Hills State improves to 15-9 overall and 12-7 in conference play.
Chadron State opened the game with a 4-0 lead, but the Yellow Jackets scored 11 of the next 12 points and led the rest the game. CSC was outscored by 15 point in the first quarter, won the second by two points, and lost the third by three points and the fourth by seven.
The Eagles shot 41.9 percent (18-43) in the loss. They made three of nine attempts from behind the arc and were 10 of 14 from the charity stripe.
Black Hills State finished 26-60 (43.3 percent) from the field. The Yellow Jackets were 12 of 30 from three and eight of 13 from the free throw line.
CSC scored 16 points off 18 Black Hills turnovers and outrebounded their opponent 33 to 29.
14 of CSC's 32 turnovers occurred in the first quarter.
Jessica Lovitt scored a game high 14 points for the Eagles. Lovitt and Jordan Morris each grabbed five rebounds and Jori Peters led with three assists.
Four different players scored in double-digits for the Yellow Jackets. Racquel Wientjes had 13 points, Danica Kocer had 12, and Abby Switzer and Ashlee Beacom had 11 and 10, respectively.
Ten different players scored for Black Hills State in the victory.
CSC concluded their road contests for the season on Saturday. The Eagles return home to face CSU-Pueblo on Friday, Feb. 21, at 5:30 p.m.