USD men improve to 2-0 with win over Texas A&M Commerce

VERMILLION, S.D. (USD) — Behind a 59-point second half, the South Dakota men's basketball team earned its second win of the season, 91-83 over Texas A&M-Commerce Wednesday night in the Sanford Coyote Sports Center. For the first time as a Coyote, Chase Forte led USD in scoring with 23 points, two shy of his career high. Forte was 5-for-10 from the field and 13-of-16 from the charity stripe and had four rebounds, four assists and two steals. Five other Coyotes scored in double-figures in Cameron Fens (14), Isaac Bruns (13), Dre Bullock (11) and Kaleb Stewart (10). Paul Bruns led the Yotes in rebounds and assists with seven and five. Ashton Smith and Cameron Fens added six and five boards, respectively. The two teams shot an identical 30-for-66 from the field, and while the Lions had a slight edge in 3-pointers made (9-6), USD earned more trips to the free throw line and connected on 25-of-36. Forte and Isaac Bruns were the go-to guys in the second half for the Yotes, as they combined for 27 of USD's 59 points. Forte poured in 16 on 3-of-5 shooting and was nearly perfect from the charity stripe connecting on 10-11 attempts. Bruns went 5-for-7 from the field with one triple. With the score tied at 32 out of the halftime intermission, it was the Yotes who won the first five minutes of the second half taking a 47-38 after a fast break bucket from Isaac Bruns . A 3-pointer from Max Burchill pushed the Yotes lead to double-digits, 53-41, with 13:31 left in the game. The Coyotes would hold a double-figure lead for over 10 minutes, extending it to as many as 19 following a pair of free throws from Burchill, but the Lions would claw back to make it single-digits with 2:31 remaining. An and-one from the Lions brought the Yotes lead down to five, 82-77, but Forte would curb the Lions comeback attempt, scoring six straight points. Bullock closed out the night with a bang, corralling a full court pass from Paul Bruns and rising up for an and-one dunk to close out the 91-83 win. The Coyotes and Lions both made 11 field goals, four 3-pointers and six free throws in the first half, as they were deadlocked at 32 after 20 minutes of action. Eight different Yotes scored in the first half, led by Forte's seven. The Lions held the lead for just about 16 minutes in the first half. However, South Dakota closed out the half with a 7-1 run, powered by a pair of 3-pointers from Paul Bruns and Bullock. South Dakota is back at the SCSC Sunday for a meeting with Mount Marty at 2:00 p.m.