Cold Second Half Stops 'Dons in Brookings

Saturday, January 12

Brookings, S.D.

5 p.m.

Purdue Fort Wayne

8-11, 1-4SL

South Dakota State

13-6, 4-2SL

Fort Wayne

South Dakota St.

Photo by: Lucas Carter

1/12/2013 7:30:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

BOX SCORE (.pdf) | BOX SCORE

BROOKINGS, S.D. - The Mastodons led by five early in the second half, and by one with 16 minutes to play in the game; however, a 14-0 South Dakota State run gave the hosts a 13-point lead, and they would not trail again in an 83-57 Jackrabbit win on Saturday afternoon.

Frank Gaines scored a team-high 18 points on 7-of-17 shooting from the field, while Joe Reed scored a career-high 15 points, hitting six of his seven shots in the game. Reed pulled down six rebounds to lead the team, while Isaiah McCray dished out four assists to pace the squad.

The teams battled back-and-forth in the first half to seven tie scores and four lead changes, as the largest lead gained by either team would be four by the Jackrabbits early in the contest.

IPFW (8-11, 1-4 Summit League) came out firing to start the second half, scoring the period's first eight points on a three from McCray, a jumper from Gaines, and a three-pointer from Luis Jacobo to lead by five at 39-34.

A Reed basket with 15:44 gave the Mastodons a one-point, 42-41 lead, the team's final lead of the game, as South Dakota State (13-6, 4-2 Summit) scored the next 14 points, as the margin never reached single digits again, as the 'Jacks pulled away for the 26-point win. The 26 points are the most the 'Dons have been outscored by this season, as the team had not trailed by more than 19 in any of the previous 18 games.

IPFW was 22-of-52 from the field (42.3%), 3-of-18 (16.7%) from long range, and 10-of-18 (55.6%) from the charity stripe. South Dakota State was 30-of-54 shooting in the game, 55.6 percent, while going 7-of-13 on three-point attempts, and 16-of-25 on free throws.

IPFW was out-rebounded 33-to-31, as Gaines also grabbed four boards in the loss, while Joe Edwards had a team-high three steals with Gaines and Reed each grabbing two.

Nate Wolters, who fueled SDSU's second-half run, scored a game-high 29 points on 10-of-18 shooting, while Marcus Heemstra and Chad White each scored a dozen points in their winning effort.

The Mastodons return home to Fort Wayne for their next four games, the first of that group coming on Thursday, January 24 when the squad hosts the Coyotes of South Dakota in a 7 p.m. tip-off at the Memorial Coliseum.

~ Feel the Rumble ~