JACKS COMPLETE HISTORIC COMEBACK TO BEAT EAGS

Saturday, December 10

Brookings, S.D.

4 p.m.

South Dakota State University

4-7,0-0Summit League

Eastern Washington

4-6,0-0Big Sky

Eastern Wash.

South Dakota St.

Zeke Mayo

12/10/2022 7:01:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

By: Andrew Pedersen

BROOKINGS, S.D. – The South Dakota State men's basketball team completed an improbable comeback, trailing by 23 points with less than nine minutes to play, and ended up claiming a 77-76 victory over Eastern Washington in Frost Arena on Saturday.

The Jackrabbits rally began following a 3-pointer by the Eagles' Ethan Price put EWU up 69-46 with 8 minutes, 51 minutes remaining in the contest. The ensuing possession saw Matt Mims go to the line for two free throws with 8:36 left.

That got SDSU going as the Jacks went on a 14-2 run to cut the deficit to 71-60 as the clock winded down to under five minutes. Eastern Washington hit a 3-pointer to end that run, but SDSU came right back with a 3-pointer from Zeke Mayo on the next possession that began a stretch of eight straight Jackrabbit points to trim the Eagle advantage to single digits.

An EWU field goal put the Eagles ahead 76-68 with 1:30 remaining. The Jackrabbits responded with the final nine points of the night.

William Kyle III made two free throws for the Jackrabbits to make it a 76-70 margin 10 seconds later. The Jackrabbits forced a turnover and Mims responded with a 3-pointer to make it a 76-73 game with 57 seconds on the clock. A strong defensive play by Broden Lien forced a missed layup by EWU's Casey Jones which in turn led to a coast-to-coast layup for Alex Arians, making it a 76-75 contest with 22 seconds left. Two fouls by SDSU eventually sent Jones to the free throw line. The Eagle missed the first of a 1-and-1 opportunity giving the Jacks the ball with 18 seconds remaining.

That's when Mayo put an exclamation mark on a career performance.

The SDSU sophomore guard dribbled his way into the paint. From just inside the right side of the free throw line, Mayo was met with contact by an EWU defender as he sent a shot towards the basket as the clock winded down. His attempt banked off the glass and fell through the net, propelling the Jackrabbits ahead 77-76, and giving SDSU's first lead since the opening two minutes of the contest.

Eastern Washington used its final timeout to draw up a last play with 2.2 seconds remaining. The Eagles' 3-point attempt by Price sailed wide of the basket, capping a 23-point comeback win for the Jackrabbits.

SDSU outscored the Eagles 31-7 over the game's final 8:36. Zeke Mayo scored a career-high 30 points with 17 coming in the second half. The Jackrabbits improved to 4-7 overall in the win and snapped a four-game losing streak. The Eagles fell to 4-6.

Notes

The Jackrabbits outshot the Eagles 47.2-44.8% from the field, but EWU finished with a 40-26 rebounding edge. SDSU went 15-for-15 from the free throw line, the second-best 100% effort by the Jackrabbits at the charity stripe in a single game in program history. The Jackrabbits went 8 of 14 from the 3-point line in the second half. SDSU had a season-low nine turnovers and season-high six blocked shots.
Mayo went 11 of 16 from the field and 5-for-10 from 3-point range. Kyle III joined in scoring double digits with 10. Arians had nine points to go along with a team-high eight rebounds. Mims scored all eight of his points in the game in the second half.
Matt Dentlinger scored six points in the matchup and his second field goal of the night pushed him over the 1,000-point mark in his college career. He became SDSU's 52nd member of the program's 1,000-point club.
Eastern Washington had five double-digit scorers paced by Price's 16. Jones had a game-high nine rebounds. EWU's leading scorer this season, Steele Venters, went just 6-for-18 for the Eagles and finished with 13 points.

Up Next
South Dakota State continues a three-game homestand on Monday. The Jackrabbits host Mount Marty at 8:15 p.m. in Frost Arena as part of a doubleheader which begins with SDSU women's basketball at 6 p.m.

-GoJacks.com-