by VERMILLION — South Dakota State men’s basketball dropped a 99-84 contest at South Dakota Sunday afternoon despite a career-high 26 points from Matt Dentlinger.
The Jackrabbits (14-8, 5-2 Summit League) saw their five-game winning streak come to an end, but still shot 53.3 percent with a 13-of-24 effort from deep.
Dentlinger buried 13-of-18 from the field to lead the Jackrabbit attack, adding a career-best seven assists alongside a team-leading six rebounds.
Alex Arians added 16 points with five rebounds and four 3-pointers, while David Wingett (Winnebago) hit a trio of 3s and had 13 points.
Noah Freidel buried all five of his free throw attempts and finished with eight points.
South Dakota State took a 9-5 lead at the first media timeout, but moments later saw the Coyotes rally to tie it at 12. The teams settled into back-and-forth play over the next 10 minutes. The Jackrabbits went in front on a Dentlinger fast-break layup at 6:17 (27-26), but a hot-shooting Coyote squad gained separation in the final five minutes of the half.
Trailing 52-38 at halftime, Dentlinger opened the second with a putback layup, but USD soon grew its lead to a game-high 19 (59-40). State did not quit, though, and chipped away at the deficit until pulling within single digits on an Arians 3-pointer (73-65) at 10:52. That was as close as the Jacks would come, however, as the Coyotes recovered to defend home court.
