BIG RUN SPURS JACKRABBITS TO QUARTERFINAL WIN

Saturday, March 9

Sioux Falls, S.D. (Denny Sanford PREMIER Center)

6 p.m.

South Dakota State University

20-12,12-4Summit League

Oral Roberts

12-19,5-11Summit League

Oral Roberts

South Dakota St.

Charlie Easley and Luke Appel

Photo by: Joclyn Haven

3/9/2024 9:25:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

By: Andrew Pedersen

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – South Dakota State trailed by as many as 10 in the early going, but strung together a 24-point scoring run to end the first half, and held off any comeback en route to a 79-63 victory over Oral Roberts on Saturday in the Summit League Championship Quarterfinals.

After SDSU made the first two field goals of the contest, the Jackrabbits saw the Golden Eagles build up a 16-6 lead that forced South Dakota State to call a timeout at the 13:50 mark of the first half. SDSU cut into the deficit, but a Jalen Miller 3-pointer for ORU made it 21-14 in favor of the Golden Eagles with just over 10 minutes remaining in the half.

The Jackrabbits dominated the next 10 minutes of action.

SDSU scored eight consecutive points to take the lead, with six courtesy of Zeke Mayo, to put the Jackrabbits on top 22-21 with 7 minutes, 52 seconds remaining in the half. The eight points were the first of 24 the Jackrabbits scored consecutively over the final 10:05 of the opening half. A Nate Barnhart 3-pointer with 32 seconds on the clock capped the scoring spree and sent SDSU into the halftime break ahead 38-21.

Oral Roberts worked at trimming the deficit to begin the second period. The Golden Eagles got the margin to single digits for the first time in the second half when a Jailen Bedford jumper made it 48-39 with 13:05 remaining. A Kareem Thompson layup at the 10:07 mark got the score down to six with ORU trailing 52-46.

The Jackrabbits responded. William Kyle III made a hook shot in the paint on SDSU's next possession, then after a defensive stop by the Jackrabbits, freshman guard Kalen Garry made a layup and was fouled leading to a three-point play. The five straight points pushed SDSU ahead 57-46 and the Jackrabbits' advantage never dipped below nine over the last nine minutes to play.

South Dakota State improved to 20-12 overall on the season while advancing to The Summit League Championship semifinals. Oral Roberts' season ended at 12-19 overall.

Notes

The Jackrabbits are now 26-9 all-time at The Summit League tournament. SDSU will be making its 13th appearance in the semifinal round.
South Dakota State outshot Oral Roberts 55-37% from the field, including a 44-34% clip from 3-point range. The Jacks outrebounded the Golden Eagles 32-28 and also had a 17-for-20 (85%) clip from the free throw line to ORU's 7-for-10 output. SDSU had just seven turnovers in the contest to the Golden Eagles' nine.
Five Jackrabbits scored in double digits. Luke Appel had a team-high 18 points on 5-for-6 shooting. Kyle III had 16 points and a game-high nine rebounds. Mayo scored 15 points and dished out a team-high four assists. Charlie Easley recorded 14 points and Garry followed with 10 as each went 4 of 7 from the field.
South Dakota State has now won 20 games in a campaign in five of the last seven seasons and nine of the previous 13 seasons.

Up Next
The Jackrabbits advance to the semifinals of The Summit League Championship. South Dakota State will play at 6 p.m. on Monday in the Denny Sanford PREMIER Center. The Jacks await the winner of Sunday's No. 4 vs. No. 5 game between North Dakota State and St. Thomas.

-GoJacks.com-