BROOKINGS, S.D. – South Dakota State rallied from a nine-point second half deficit and eventually closed out a 77-72 victory over St. Thomas in front of 3,136 fans in Frost Arena on Saturday, Feb. 24. The win came on Senior Day for a trio of Jackrabbits and was the SDSU men’s basketball team’s final game ever in Frost Arena.
The two sides traded the lead multiple times over the course of the first half.
A Zeke Mayo 3-pointer with 4 minutes, 36 seconds remaining in the half matched SDSU’s largest advantage of the early going. The Tommies responded by scoring nine consecutive points to take a brief lead, which was followed by a Luke Appel jumper for SDSU, that tied the score at 32. St. Thomas closed out the half on a 7-0 run over the final 1:32 on the clock, along with a 16-2 run that encapsulated the late four minutes of the half, to go into the break up 39-32.
St. Thomas continued to hang on to its advantage as the second half began and was up 49-40 at the 14:40 mark. That’s when SDSU made its comeback bid.
Three consecutive field goals and foul calls drawn – resulting in three-point opportunities – by Appel, Charlie Easley and Matt Mims drew the Jackrabbits within a possession. An offensive rebound off of Mims’s free throw attempt resulted in a Mayo layup to push the Jackrabbits ahead, 50-49, thanks to a 10-0 run that came in a less-than-minute span.
St. Thomas’ Drake Dobbs made two free throws on the Tommies’ next possesson to give them a 51-50 lead. It would be the visitor’s last lead of the contest.
Mayo drained a 3-pointer to put SDSU on top 53-51 and started another Jackrabbit 10-0 scoring run that pushed SDSU to a 60-51 lead. St. Thomas worked the deficit down to four on three occasions and a Dobbs 3-pointer made it 65-63 with 5:27 remaining.
Mayo provided the proverbial ‘dagger’ SDSU’s next time down the floor with another 3-pointer made. The Jackrabbits wouldn’t allow the Tommies to get the score within a single possession again.
South Dakota State improved to 17-12 overall and 10-4 in Summit League play. St. Thomas, also now 17-12 on the season, fell to 7-7 in conference action.
Notes
- South Dakota State shot 70% over the course of the second half. The Jackrabbits ended up outshooting the Tommies 59-49% from the floor. SDSU hit 7 of 17 from 3-point range while keeping St. Thomas to a 9-for-24 (37.5%) clip.
- Mayo scored a game-high 23 points on 8 of 11 shooting. SDSU’s senior trio of Easley, Appel and Mims all scored in double digits. Easley scored 17 and had four steals, Mims recorded 11 points, had three steals and six rebounds, while Appel added 11 points. Kalen Garry matched a team high of six rebounds. William Kyle III had an SDSU-best four assists.
- Dobbs along with Carter Bjerke scored a team-high 16 points for St. Thomas. Raheem Anthony recorded 13 points along with a team-best four assists.
- The Jackrabbits completed a season sweep of St. Thomas. SDSU previously beat the Tommies 81-80 in St. Paul on Jan. 11.
- SDSU closed out its 52nd and final season in Frost Arena as the Jackrabbits will play in the new, reconstructed First Bank and Trust Arena. The South Dakota State men’s basketball program went 573-139 (.805) during the era inside its home facility.
Up Next
The Jackrabbits close out their regular season by playing two games on the road. South Dakota State travels north to face North Dakota in Grand Forks at 7 p.m. on Thursday. The Jacks end the regular season on Saturday at 1 p.m. in Fargo at North Dakota State.