Jacks win sixth straight, down Bakersfield, 53-49

Friday, December 19

Logan, Utah

6:30 PM

South Dakota State University

Bakersfield

Jacks come up short at Buffalo in Opener

12/19/2014 10:49:00 PM | Men's Basketball

By: SDSU Sports Info

LOGAN, Utah – South Dakota State struggled on the offensive end, but battled on defense on Friday against Bakersfield to hang on for its sixth straight win, a 53-49 victory over the Roadrunners at the World Vision Classic in Logan, Utah.

The Jackrabbits improve to 8-3 with the win, while the reeling Roadrunners fall to 1-10.

“We played hard, but we're struggling offensively, that's clear, the field goal percentage is awful, but the thing is, we're guarding, and it's helping us win basketball games,” head coach Scott Nagy said. “We held them to 34 percent and we outrebounded a team that's outrebounding their opponents five or six or seven a game, it tells you our kids are playing hard and giving great effort, and in the last two minutes we made the big plays.”

Down five at 46-41 with just over six minutes left in the game, George Marshall hit a 3-pointer to cut the lead to two points. About a minute later, he hit a jumper that tied the game at 46 with 5 minutes and 3 seconds remaining, the fifth tie score of the game to go along with nine lead changes.

The score remained locked at 46 until the 2:09 mark, when Jake Bittle drew a foul and made one of the two free throws to put the Jacks up by one. Cody Larson made it a three point game in the next SDSU possession and Deondre Parks a five point game with a layup with 13 seconds left.

CSUB answered with a quick 3-pointer on the other end with six seconds left to cut the lead to two at 51-49, but Bittle sank two clutch free throws with four seconds left to secure the Jackrabbit win.

Marshall led all players in the game with 18 points, tying a career-high with four 3-pointers. Zach Horstman added 12 points and a block in the win. Larson scored a season-low four points, but made a big basket late, and added a career-high six assists and a pair of blocks.

The Jackrabbits look to make it seven wins in a row on Saturday, when they face tournament host Utah State. The Jackrabbits and Aggies tip at 8 p.m. MT, 9 p.m. CT.

NOTES: SDSU leads the all-time series 3-2 … Friday's game marked the first neutral site meeting with Bakersfield … SDSU scored a season-low 53 points … the Jacks improve to 7-1 this season when leading at the half, to 4-0 when winning the rebounding battle and to 4-2 in games decided by fewer than five points … SDSU finished with a 13-2 advantage in second chance points