SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – South Dakota State completed a near double-digit comeback in the second half and rallied to earn a 66-62 victory over St. Bonaventure on Tuesday, Nov. 15, in front over 3,000 fans at the Sanford Pentagon.Â
Â
The Jackrabbits opened the contest with two separate eight-point advantages in the first half, but the Bonnies jumped out to a four-point lead before a
Luke Appel bank shot off glass at the buzzer cut the SDSU deficit to 32-30 at halftime.Â
Â
St. Bonaventure bursted out of the locker room for the second half with some momentum. The Bonnies went on a seven-point scoring run in the first four minutes out of the break. A
Matt Mims 3-pointer at the 15 minute, 24-second mark made it a 39-33 contest.Â
Â
The Bonnies led 53-47 with just over six minutes to play. That's when the Jacks made their game-winning run.Â
Â
SDSU went on a 12-point scoring spree in just over two minutes of time thanks to three
Matt Dentlinger field goals, a pair of
Tanner Te Slaa free throws, anÂ
Alex Arians fastbreak layup and a
William Kyle III layup.Â
Â
The second half run was spurred by a game-high four steals by
Charlie Easley as well as a set of blocks by Dentlinger.
Â
"I think defensively as a connected unit, we're playing really well," SDSU head coach
Eric Henderson said. "There's a lot of different ways to win. We've had dynamic offenses the last couple years to look back on, but we just didn't have that tonight. (St. Bonaventure) did a good job of mixing it up. At the end of the day, we have to start taking care of the ball a little better. That's on me.Â
Â
"We can be pretty dynamic offensively. We've shown that. We need to be prepared for zone or prepared for press, they try to get us off our rhythm. But they played a big part of that."
Â
Notes
- South Dakota State improved to 2-1 overall with the victory over St. Bonaventure. The Bonnies dropped to 1-2 in the two sides' first ever all-time meeting.Â
- Matt Dentlinger was SDSU's leading scorer for the third consecutive game with 16 points. Zeke Mayo corralled a career- and team-high 13 rebounds. He also had an SDSU-high five assists.Â
- The Jackrabbits outshot the Bonnies 43-38%, holding St. Bonaventure to a 35% clip in the second half.Â
Up Next
South Dakota State travels to Fayetteville, Arkansas, to face the No. 9/10 Razorbacks. The Jackrabbits take on Arkansas on Wednesday with tipoff scheduled for 7 p.m. at Bud Walton Arena.Â
Â
-GoJacks.com-