South Dakota State extended its home winning streak to 23 consecutive games and ran its streak of wins over Western Illinois to 16 in a row on Sunday with a 63-59 come-from-behind win in at Frost Arena.
The Jackrabbits improve to 13-3 overall and to 2-0 in The Summit League, while the Fighting Leathernecks fall to 7-6 overall and to 0-2 in the league.
“I think you have to give a lot of credit to Western Illinois, they took it to us early. We talked for two days about just how they have every reason to be more motivated for the game and we do,” head coach Scott Nagy said. “Sometimes when you play at home, you think things are going to happen and you’re going to win just because you’re playing at home, and that’s just not the way it works.”
The visiting Leathernecks opened the game 6 of 8 from the floor, while the Jacks started 3 of 11, which resulted in a 14-7 Western lead nearly seven minutes into the contest, a lead that would reach as many as 26-15 before a late SDSU surge cut the lead to 32-27 at halftime.
SDSU scored the first four points of the second half to cut the lead to 32-31, tied it at 34 on a George Marshall 3-pointer with at tick over 17 minutes left, tied it again at 36 on a pair of Mike Daum free throws two minutes later and then took its first lead of the contest at 38-36 on a Keaton Moffitt runner with 15:25 left, the first of five lead changes in as many possessions.
The lead would change hands six more times, the last coming with 6 minutes, 31 seconds left on a Marshall triple that put the Jacks up 53-52. After a stop in the next Leathernecks possession, Daum added a pair of free throws to extend the lead to 55-52, but SDSU didn’t put the game away until the redshirt freshman sank two more foul shots with 11 seconds left after getting fouled when he grabbed a crucial offensive rebound, the last of 14 offensive boards for the Jacks in the game.
Marshall led the Jackrabbits with 18 points, adding five rebounds and a pair of assists. Daum finished with 17 points and tied with both Reed Tellinghuisen and Keaton Moffitt with a team-high 8 rebounds. Deondre Parks added with 16 points.
