KSFY News - Sioux Falls, SD News, Weather, SportsUSD's Westbrook, Krogman key as Coyotes top Roos

Seniors Charlie Westbrook and Louie Krogman combined for 51 points to lead the South Dakota men's basketball team to a 79-63 win over the Kangaroos in Summit League action Saturday night in Vermillion, S.D. The Coyotes improved to 8-14 overall and 3-10 in the Summit League with the win, while UMKC fell to 9-16 overall and 3-10 in the conference.

"I thought defensively we were pretty good," head coach Dave Boots said.  "We played much better on the offensive end, if we can put those two together we are a much better basketball team.  I thought we did a better job of getting the ball inside and Trevor (Gruis) had seven assists and really battled in there tonight.  We out-rebounded them and had 18 assists to just 10 turnovers.  I liked how we played tonight and I thought our kids were into it and had a lot of energy."

Westbrook (Milwaukee, Wis.) continued his season mastery of UMKC with 28 points in Saturday's win. In two games against UMKC this season – both double-digit Coyote wins -- Westbrook scored 60 points on 21-of-35 shooting.

Senior Louie Krogman (White River, S.D.) also had a strong offensive night with 23 points on 9-of-13 shooting. Krogman also added five assists. Sophomore Trevor Gruis (Ellsworth, Minn.) had a double-double with 13 points and 11 rebounds, and was just three assists away from a triple double as he finished with a career-high seven on the night. Senior Ricardo Andreotti (Sao Paulo, Brazil) added 12 rebounds along with five points and two blocks.

The Coyotes shot 50 percent from the field (29-of-58) and 50 percent from behind the three-point line (7-of-14), while holding UMKC to just 36.7 percent shooting (22-of-60). The Coyotes also had a 43-32 advantage on the boards and a dominant 42-22 edge in points in the paint.

South Dakota led for all but 17 seconds of the first half. The Coyotes took an early 8-3 lead, thanks to seven points from Westbrook. UMKC cut the lead to 13-10, but the Coyotes scored five straight points to take their biggest lead at 18-10 with 13:03 left. Krogman drained a three while Westbrook added a jumper.

The Coyotes maintained that lead for much of the rest of the half. They pushed the lead into double-digits for the first time when junior Allen Saint-Gelais (Guadeloupe, France) converted a layup to give them a 36-25 lead with 5:54 left in the half. A triple by Krogman with 3:02 left gave South Dakota its biggest lead at 41-29, and the Coyotes took a 46-37 lead into halftime.

The one-two punch of Westbrook and Krogman supplied much of the offense for the Coyotes in the first half. Westbrook had 18 points on 7-of-10 shooting, while Krogman had 17 points.

The Coyotes shot 66.7 percent (18-for-27) in the first half, compared to 46.7 percent (14-of-30) for UMKC.

The Kangaroos cut the lead to 48-41 three minutes into the second half, but the Coyotes pulled away from there.  They went on a 17-5 run over the next seven minutes to extend the lead to 65-46 with 8:57 left. Westbrook and Gruis each had five points during that run, while junior Jordan Boots (Vermillion, S.D.) and sophomore Steve Tecker (Brule, Wis.) added buckets.

UMKC sliced the Coyote lead to 67-60 with 4:51 left, but the Coyotes slammed the door on the rally with 12 straight points to extend the lad to 79-60 in the final minute. Gruis and Krogman each had four points during that run to help the Coyotes clinch the win.

South Dakota continues its home stand Thursday against in-state rival South Dakota State. Game time is 7 p.m. at the DakotaDome in Vermillion, S.D., followed by a home tilt with North Dakota State Feb. 11 at 7:30 p.m. in the DakotaDome.  It is the first time both North Dakota State and South Dakota State have visited the DakotaDome since the 2003-04 season.