ABERDEEN, S.D.— The University of Sioux Falls Men's Basketball team (3-1) started their travels to Aberdeen for the Dacotah Bank Classic with a closely-contested, 62-59 victory over the Chadron State Eagles (0-4) to elevate their record to 3-1 on the season.
Leading the way for the Cougars were the trio of Austin Slater, Chase Grinde, and William Lybaek, all of whom eclipsed double-digits in scoring with 16, 11, and 10, respectively. Slater rounded out the night with a double-double, recording 13 rebounds in addition to his 16 points.
"Another gritty win, thought we played very well defensively in the first half to hold them to 17 points," said USF Men's Basketball Head Coach Chris Johnson. "Slater was really good on both ends and really carried us at times. Lybaek hit a really big three-pointer late and we were able to make just enough plays on offense to get it done."
The Cougars fell behind 9-4 early but used a 19-0 run to take a 29-17 lead at halftime. CSC outscored USF, 42-33, in the second half to tighten things up.
On the night, USF hit 21-of-52 field goals for 40.4 percent and made 5-of-13 from three-point range for 38.5 percent. USF, which hit 15-of-24 shots from the charity stripe, held a 36-to-27 rebound advantage. Slater, who reached double digits for the third time this season with his first double double of the campaign, made 5-of-9 field goals and his only three-point shot. He also had 13 boards with six on the offensive glass while handing out an assist and blocking a shot. Lybaek had his second straight double digit scoring game with 10 points as he hid 4-of-8 field goals and hit 1-of-2 from three-point range.
Game Notes-
CSC got to an early start to the game, jumping to a 9-4 lead at the 11:09 point of the first half, but the Eagles would go scoreless for the next seven minutes. During those seven minutes, the Cougars capitalized with a 19-0 run to go ahead 23-9. CSC got a bit of momentum before halftime. Green finished the scoring in the half with a pair of free-throws to make it a 29-17 Cougar lead.
The teams fought tooth-and-nail again in the second half, with the Cougars taking as large of leads as 14, and the Eagles getting to within a possession of the Cougars on multiple occasions. The Eagles were able to get within one of the Cougars with a pair of free throws at the one-minute mark.
With 32 seconds left, the Cougars' Grinde got the Cougars to a manageable three-point, 62-59 lead, but both teams had another chance to change that score. In the end, it stayed as such, giving the Cougars their third win on the season.
