KSFY News - Sioux Falls, SD News, Weather, SportsJackrabbits push past Southern Utah Saturday, 66-56

South Dakota State battled through 12 ties and 12 leadchanges on Saturday against Southern Utah, but a 31 point night by Nate Wolters and a six-point trip down the floor paved the way for a 66-56 win in the 40th Annual Pork Classic.

Trailing 38-36 after a Damon Heuir three-pointer with 12:31 to play, Griffan Callahan got fouled after a made three-point basket to put the Jacks up 39-38 with 12:05 on the clock. That gave the Jacks the ball with achance to add to the lead, which Wolters did when he made a layup, and one, to put SDSU on top 42-38 with 11:51 left in the game.

The visiting Thunderbirds, who fall to an even 12-12 on the season overall and 7-7 in The Summit League, would get as close as two points at 45-43 with just over eight minutes left to play, but would never tie or regain the lead for the rest of the night.

"These are the kind of games that are like tournament games that you have to grind out at half court," head coach Scott Nagy said after the win, which gives the Jacks a 19-6 overall record and an 11-2 mark in leagueplay. "They did the right thing by playing the way that they did. They turned it into a half court game and they're much more physical than us and they showed that by beating us up on the glass, which I'm not happy about."

Not happy because the Thunderbirds won the rebounding battle 33-21, including a 12-6 edge on the offensive glass, which led to 12 secondchance points from the visitors, compared to six by the Jackrabbits.

The Jacks made up for that margin by finishing with a 16-5 advantage in bench points, nine of which came from Marcus Heemstra, who finished with a career-high nine points in 21 minutes. Chad White scored the Jacks other seven points off the bench. Along with Wolters' 31, only Callahan joined him in double figures with 10 points.

Ray Jones, Jr. scored 18 points to lead the T-birds. Ramell Taylor added 13 points and a game-high nine rebounds. Heuir and Matt Masseyboth finished with eight points in the loss.

Prior to the six-point trip down the floor, neither team led by more than three points in the game, as the first half alone featured 10 ties and four lead changes before the Jacks took a 28-25 lead into the locker room at halftime.

The first eight minutes of the second half looked exactly like the first half, with two more ties and eight more lead changes before the Jacks took control of the game on the six-point trip down the floor.

Still perfect at home this season at 10-0, the Jackrabbits return to the road next week with games at South Dakota on Thursday and at UMKC on Saturday. Both games begin at 7 p.m.