DSU shooter gives 'Rockers trouble

By Padraic Duffy, Journal staff Monday, January 28, 2008

RAPID CITY --- The South Dakota Mines men’s basketball team knew that Dickinson State’s Jeremy Mallard was a shooter, but it didn’t seem to matter. The 5-foot-6 senior nailed six 3-pointers as he scored a game-high 19 points to lead the Blue Hawks to a 77-64 come-from-behind win over the Hardrockers at Goodell Gymnasium on Saturday.

“That was all we had on the scouting report next to his name --- shooter,” Mines head coach Jason Henry said. “That’s what he does. He’s not very big but he really gets it off quick. He’s certainly done it before. If you get on him and get a hand up he struggles a bit, but if you give him an inch he’s going to take it.”

Nigel Sims, another sub for the Blue Hawks, came on strong in the second half, scoring 16 of his 18 points in the final 20 minutes as Dickinson rallied from a 35-29 deficit at the half.

“Our defense was a big key for us,” Dickinson head coach Ty Orton said. “That’s kind of our heart and soul. Then we started to attack with Saajid (Yazeed) and (Sean) Burnham and they did a great job of finding the open man.”

More often than not that open man was either Mallard or Sims and they both made the Hardrockers pay. The duo combined for six 3-pointers in the second half and all of them were the kind of shots that either stopped or created momentum.

The Hardrockers had a 53-45 lead with 10 minutes to go before the Mines defense broke down and gave up three straight lay-ups to make it a 53-51 game. Mallard and Sims then combined for 14 points in a 4:38 stretch to give the visitors a 65-56 lead with 4:10 to go.

“It’s good to get a win again,” Orton said of his team, which last won on Nov. 25. The Blue Hawks had lost 13 straight. “This team just takes it one day at a time and one possession at a time, that’s what we teach and that’s what they did.”

The Blue Hawks shot 70 percent (17-for-24) from the floor in the second half.

“Their defense picked up and we just didn’t counter it very well, like we did last night,” Henry said. “Then that kind of got their confidence going and all of a sudden it seemed like everything was going in.”

A.J. Trennepohl scored 14 points to lead Mines. Robbie Fedor came off the bench to register 13. The duo knocked down all seven of their team’s 3-point field goals with Trennepohl hitting four and Fedor three.

The Hardrockers actually shot a better percentage on the night than did Dickinson   56 percent to 54 percent   but the Blue Hawks hit four more 3-pointers and turned the ball over six fewer times. Dickinson outscored Mines 48-29 in the second half as the Hardrockers shot just 16 times in the second half.

The Hardrockers (6-15 overall, 3-4 DAC) turn right around and play the Blue Hawks (7-14, 1-6) again on Friday in Dickinson before taking on Minot on Saturday.