Rabbits Roll in Exhibition Opener

Thursday, October 29

Brookings, S.D.

8:30 PM

South Dakota State University

South Dakota Mines (exh.)

Jacks Win Seventh Straight, Overpower Omaha, 86-64

10/29/2015 11:56:00 PM | Men's Basketball

By: SDSU Sports Info

Three Jackrabbits scored in double figures, 11 of the 14 players scored and the defense dominated as South Dakota State rolled to a 72-43 win over South Dakota Mines the team's exhibition opener on Thursday at Frost Arena.

SDSU got 14 points from Deondre Parks and 10 each from Jake Bittle and George Marshall in the win, and even though the Jacks shot just 38.7 percent in the game, 24 for 62, head coach Scott Nagy feels good about the outcome.

"I have zero concern about our offense, they went under all of the ball screens, we were tight and didn't shoot the ball well, but I was pleased with the defense. We shot 38 percent and won by 29 points, that means we guarded."

After surrendering an early 8-7 lead to the Hardrockers, the Jackrabbit defense went on lockdown, keeping SDSMT off the board for more than nine minutes and allowing just three more field goals in the first half before taking a 30-20 lead into the locker room.

The Jacks started to pour it on in the second half, stretching the lead to as many as 34 points on a pair of Adam Dykman free throws with 3 minutes, 17 seconds left in the game.

Along with the trio of double figure scorers, the Jacks got eight points from Keaton Moffitt, 6 from Cole Gentry and 5 from Reed Tellinghuisen in the win. Ian Theisen did not score, but grabbed a game-high 13 rebounds.

Brian Orr led all Hardrockers with 13 points off the bench, with Marco Pascolo adding 8 in the loss, as the visitors shot 26.3 percent overall in the game, 15 for 57.

The Jackrabbits close the exhibition season on Nov. 5, when they host Dakota Wesleyan at 8:30 p.m., following the women's exhibition finale against the University of Mary at 6 p.m. SDSU opens the regular season at home against Chadron State on Nov. 13, at 8:30 p.m.