Men's Basketball 1/23/2010 10:14:00 PM Ryan Powell, UND Media Relations

Sioux stumble against Coyotes in Great West action at the Ralph

GRAND FORKS, N.D. – The University of North Dakota men's basketball team dropped an 82-64 decision to South Dakota on Saturday in their first home game at the Ralph Engelstad Arena in five seasons. USD freshman Jake Thomas led all scorers with 27 points, while senior guard Travis Bledsoe (Minneapolis, Minn.) paced the Sioux with 25 points.

After a tightly-contested first half, South Dakota took control of the game early in the second half with a 20-8 run that put the game away for the Coyotes (10-9, 2-1 Great West), who beat the Sioux (3-16, 1-2 Great West) on back-to-back Saturdays.

USD senior Roman Gentry led the second-half surge for the visitors, scoring 17 of his 19 points after the break. Gentry's classmate Tyler Cain added 16 points and 10 rebounds for the Yotes.

UND freshman Doug Archer (Conception Junction, Mo.) reached double digits for the first time in his career with 12 points. Senior Travis Mertens (Devils Lake, N.D.) was the third Sioux to reach double figures, adding 11 points and a team-high seven rebounds.

“We had some chances there in the first half to really build an advantage, but we kind of played on our heels and they had a guy get hot that put us in a hole at halftime,” UND head coach Brian Jones said. “We did not play to the level that I thought we prepared during the week and that is disappointing, but give South Dakota credit. We'll learn from this and continue to get better.”

Bledsoe went 7-for-11 from beyond the arc for the Sioux, but the Sioux shot just 38.7 percent from the floor as a team and turned the ball over 19 times. The Coyotes turned those miscues into 23 points.

Neither team had much offense going early as the score was tied at 2-2 when the first media timeout came with 15:37 on the clock.

USD senior Steve Smith then heaved in a desperation 3-pointer with the shot clock expiring to put the Yotes ahead 5-2, but that trifecta was answered quickly by Bledsoe.

UND built its largest lead of the stanza at 16-11 after Spencer Goodman (Jackson, Mo.) sank two free throws to

Archer made a lay-up with 4:41 to give the Sioux a 20-19 advantage, but it would be three minutes before UND would strike again when Bledsoe connected on his second 3-pointer of the half.

The half would see five lead changes and four ties, but the Yotes took a six-point advantage into the break as they closed it on a 10-3 run in the final 4:41.

Thomas, who hit two 3-pointers in USD's closing run, led all scorers with 14 first-half points. He went 4-for-7 from deep, while his teammates made just 1-of-8 from deep. The Sioux struggled from the floor as well, making just 25 percent of their shots. Archer and Bledsoe each had six points to pace UND.

Goodman opened the second half with a 3-pointer right off the bat for the Sioux, but USD answered with the next six points to extend its advantage to 35-26 with 15:56 to play.

Bledsoe knocked down a trey from the corner to end the brief drought for UND and get the home team back within six, but the Yotes would push their lead out to 55-34 over the next six minutes of action.

Gentry, who was held to a pair of points in the first half, had 10 points during the spurt that put the game out of reach for UND. The Sioux would outscore the Yotes 30-27 down the stretch, but that opening flurry by USD was too much to overcome.

The Sioux will go back on the road next week for a two-game Great West swing through the state of Texas. UND will play Texas-Pan American on Thursday, then head north to Houston for a match up with Houston Baptist.

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