SPEARFISH, S..D. -- February 15, 2020 -- The Chadron State College men's basketball team proved it can still compete Saturday night, when it put up a good fight before Black Hills State hung on for a 93-87 win in Spearfish.

The Yellow Jackets, now 19-6 overall and 16-3 and tied for first in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference, outscored the Eagles by just three points in each half.  The hosts never led by more than eight.

As he closed his broadcast, the voice of the Eagles, Dave Collins, declared "Chadron State "has given a great effort against one of the best teams in the conference."

As has been the case in several other close games that the Eagles lost this season, they outscored the opponent from the field, but free throws decided the difference.

Chadron State shot 50.7 percent, making 34 of 67 field goal shots, including 11 of 26 from 3-point range, for 79 points. The Yellow Jackets sank 54.1 percent from the field, hitting 33 of 61 shots, including six of 19 from behind the arc, for 72 points.

But Black Hills was 21 of 28 at the free throw line and the Eagles just eight of 10.

The Eagles led most of the first 10 minutes, including 23-18 with 10:04 showing on the clock to match their biggest lead of the night.  Black Hills was ahead 41-38 at halftime, but five points by center Jacob Jefferson to open the second half put the Eagles ahead 43-42.

That was the last time CSC was ahead.  But the Eagles never went away.  They tied the score at 54-54, 61-61 and 64-64 before Black Hills took the lead for keeps.

Making nine of 10 free throws in the last 8:31 helped hold off the visitors.

Trey Whitley, a 6-foot-1 junior, led the Yellow Jackets with 28 points, coming on 10 of 15 from the field and eight of nine at the line.  He also had a team-high eight rebounds and three steals.  Two weeks ago in Chadron, Whitley tallied 37 points and stole the ball six times during Black Hills' 97-74 victory

Black Hills also got 23 points from 6-7 freshman Joel Scott on nine of 12 from the field, including three treys, and a pair of charity shots.  Sava Dudic added 14 points, but senior Tyler Oliver, who poured in 22 points against the Eagles in the earlier meeting, was scoreless Saturday night during 18 minutes of action.

Chadron State got a terrific performance from senior Michael Sparks.  He was 8 of 13 from the field, including five of seven from behind the arc, and three of four from the line for 24 points.

Forward Brian Rodriguez added 17 points and a game-high nine rebounds.  Jefferson chipped in 14 points and point guard Colby Jackson 12.  Both were six of eight from the field.

CSC Coach Houston Reed said that although the loss was disappointing, he was proud of his team's performance. 

"They stepped up tonight," Reed said. "It was still a loss, but we confronted a really good team and showed we're a good team."
 
Chadron State--Michael Sparks 24, Brian Rodriguez 17, Jacob Jefferson 14, Colby Jackson 12, Brady Delimont 7, Kayden Sund 6, Andre Sepeda 6, Kenan Gray 1. Totals: 34-67 (11-26) 8-10, 87 points, 31 rebounds, 11 turnovers.
Black Hills State--Trey Whitley 28, Joel Scott 23, Sava Dudic 14, Stefan Desnica 9, Snjolfur Steffansson 8, Tommy Donovan 8, Antonio Capley 3. Totals: 33-61 (6-19) 21-28, 93 points, 35 rebounds, 8 turnovers.

                Chadron State              38                 49           ----87
                Black Hills State            41                 52          ----93

                3-pointers:  CSC--Sparks 5, Rodriguez 2, Sund 2, Jefferson 1, Delimont 1. BHSU--Scott 3, Dukic 3.