Jacks set three-point record in loss at Oakland

Wednesday, December 31

Rochester, Mich.

4 p.m. ET

South Dakota State University

Oakland

Jackrabbits down IPFW for first Summit League win

12/31/2008 1:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball

By: SDSU Sports Info

ROCHESTER, Mich. ?? South Dakota State made a school record 15 three-pointers and all five Jackrabbit starters scored in double figures, but they only got two points off the bench in an 86-81 loss at Oakland (Mich.) on Wednesday afternoon at the O'Rena in Rochester, Mich.

The 15 three-pointers breaks the old record of 14, which the Jacks did twice, first in a 90-77 loss at Nebraska-Omaha on Jan. 31, 1987 and again in a 92-79 home win over South Dakota on Jan. 9, 2004.

The loss drops the Jackrabbits to 6-9 overall and 1-2 in Summit League play, while Oakland improves to 9-7 overall and 2-1 in league play.

Garrett Callahan led all players with 24 points and came up one three-pointer shy of breaking the SDSU single-game record of seven three-pointers, set by Randy Suarez in a 79-72 overtime loss against Augustana (S.D.) on Feb. 7, 1987.

Anthony Cordova tied his career-high with 17 points, Griffan Callahan also tied his career-high with 14 points in his third career game. Kai Williams and Clint Sargent both finished with 12 points. Dale Moss scored the only two SDSU points off the bench.

Erik Kangas led five Golden Grizzlies in double figures with 20 points, Keith Benson added 19 in the win for Oakland, who got 26 points off the bench, including 14 from Drew Maynard and ten from Will Hudson.

SDSU finished the game with a 47.5 overall shooting percentage on 28-of-59 shooting, and shot an even 50 percent from three-point range.

Oakland shot 53.3 percent from the floor on 32-of-60 shooting and went 8-of-18 from long distance for a 44.4 percentage.

After struggling to shoot just 54 percent from the free throw line in their win over Iowa State, the Jackrabbits went 10-for-11 from the charity stripe, 91 percent. The Grizzlies made 14 of their 18 attempts at the line, 78 percent, but made their last six straight to seal the win.

Kai Williams started the record-setting night with a three on the Jacks first possession, but Oakland scored the next five points for the first of four early lead changes.

The Grizzlies started the first run of the game with six minutes left in the first half, a 9-0 run that ended with just under three minutes left and with Oakland up 12 at 35-23.

The Jacks closed the gap to eight points at 39-31 at halftime and eventually cut it to four points early in the second half, but Oakland used a 13-3 run to stretch its lead to 18 points at 63-45 with 11:29 left in the game.

SDSU answered with a 10-0 run to cut the lead to 63-55 with just under nine minutes left and kept chipping away at the lead, getting it down to 78-74 on a Garrett Callahan three-pointer that tied the school record with 1:39 left to play.

OU got the lead back to eight points at 82-74 when Callahan cut it back to five points with the record-breaking 15th Jackrabbit three-pointer of the game with 27 seconds left.

The Jacks would get no closer though, as the Grizzlies made their final six free throws to seal the 86-81 win.

The Jackrabbits return to action on Friday, when they travel to Fort Wayne, Ind., to take on IPFW at Memorial Coliseum.

Tipoff against the Mastodons is scheduled for 7 p.m. ET, 6 p.m. CT.