SPEARFISH, S.D. – December 17, 2016 – Chadron State College (1-9, 1-5 RMAC) struggled shooting the ball, and Black Hills State (5-7, 2-4 RMAC) excelled, as the Yellow Jackets cruised to an 82-55 win in Spearfish, heading into the holiday break.

While CSC maintained pace throughout the better part of the opening round, the Yellow Jackets went on a 17-5 run in the first half, just after the eight-minute mark. Patrick Mendes and Connor O'Hearn combined for five field goals and 13 of the 17 points. The Eagles trailed by 13 going into the locker room at halftime.

Another 21-6 run by the Yellow Jackets effectively put the game out of reach.

"I thought we had some energy coming out of the locker room at the start," said CSC head men's basketball coach Houston Reed. "Give them some credit. Their guy Mendes, he was 4-of-21 from three on the season, and he started out 3-for-4. That kind of took the wind out of us. We've got to learn how to step up and respond better. There's going to be times when players step up and outplay their scouting report. That impacted a lot of other areas."

BHSU was 31-of-54 in the game, hitting 57.4 percent from the floor. Meanwhile, CSC had their lowest-shooting performance at 16-of-50. That included hitting just 4 of 22 three-pointers.

"Some of it is Black Hills State. They did a really good job packing the lane. We've been good there the last couple of games, and they kept us out. We also had some open shots that didn't go."

Michael Johnson, with a season and career-high 17 points, led the Eagles in scoring. He was the only Eagle in double digits.

Mendes was BHSU's leading scorer with 7-of-11 field goals and 3-of-6 from three-point range to finish with 19 points.

The Eagles have a nearly two-week break before conference play starts back up on December 30. Chadron State faces Fort Lewis College, who led the league as of the close of business Friday with a perfect 5-0 RMAC record. The game is scheduled for approximately 7:30 p.m., following the women's game which follows the conclusion of the Chadron Rotary Holiday Basketball Tournament.