SIOUX FALLS – After back-to-back exits in the first round of the Summit League Men’s Basketball Championship, the South Dakota State men’s basketball team bucked the trend Saturday night as they defeated Omaha 84-71 at the Sanford Pentagon.

“Really, really proud of our guys,” said SDSU head coach Eric Henderson. “I thought they had a lot of fight. I thought they were very connected on both ends of the floor. I really liked their composure. I knew that Omaha was going to go on a couple runs and knock down multiple shots in-a-row and Ayo [Akinwole] certainly did that. But our guys stayed together and kept their composure. We knew this was going to be a dog fight coming in. … I’m sure proud of our guys’ effort.”

The Jackrabbits closed out the first half with a 9-2 run to take a 40-31 lead into halftime. SDSU then used an 8-0 run to take an 18-point lead with 11:47 left in the game. That was the Jacks’ largest lead of the game and they cruised to the finish line.

SDSU shot 53.4% from the field and was 8-for-19 from 3-point range.

The Jacks were led by Douglas Wilson, who had 25 points, seven assists and four rebounds. Baylor Scheierman finshed with 18 points, 11 rebounds and seven assists. Matt Dentlinger had 14 points and grabbed six boards.

SDSU outscored Omaha 44-20 in the paint.

“[Going inside] is our plan no matter who we play to be honest with you. We have some playmakers down there obviously. Doug was terrific tonight. He had 25 points, but maybe even more importantly he had seven assists as well. He’s such a dynamic scorer, but he’s such a good passer and a willing passer. That was certainly our goal, to punch it inside. Whether it was to Doug, Matt, Luke [Appel]. Baylor a couple times. That was certainly our goal,” Henderson said.

Ayo Akinwole led the Mavs with 26 points. He knocked down six 3-pointers. Jadin Booth had 13 points and Kyle Luedtke had 10. Omaha shot 41.5% from the field and was 11-for-26 from deep.

SDSU will now take on Oral Roberts in the semifinals. Summit League Player of the Year, Max Abmas, averaged 36 points per game in the two meetings between SDSU and ORU this season. Scheierman said it will be a team effort to stop Abmas in the third matchup.

“I think it’s a team game. Like coach Henderson says ‘all five guys have to be connected in order to stop five guys or one guy.’ Five guys have stop [Abmas],” Scheierman said.

Action between the Jacks and Golden Eagles is scheduled to begin at 5:45 p.m. tonight.

SOUTH DAKOTA STATE 84, OMAHA 71

Omaha (5-20)

Ayo Akinwole 9-16 2-2 26, Jadin Booth 4-9 2-3 13, Kyle Luedtke 4-9 1-1 10, La’Mel Robinson 3-10 1-2, Marco Smith 3-7 0-0 6, Matt Pile 2-5 0-0 4, Darrius 1-3 0-0 2, Dylan Brougham 1-3 0-1 2, Nick Ferraini 0-3 0-0 0. Totals 27-65 6-9 71.

South Dakota State (16-6)

Douglas Wilson 11-220 3-3 25, Baylor Scheierman 7-9 0-0 18, Matt Dentlinger 4-5 6-6 14, Charlie Easley 3-8 0-0 8, Alex Arians 1-4 3-4 6, Matt Mims 2-4 0-0 5, Luke Appel 2-3 0-0 4 Luke Appel 2-3 0-0 4, David Wingett 1-4 2-2 4. William 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 31 14-15 84.

Halftime – SDSU 40-31. 3-point field goals – O 11-26 (Akinwole 6-10, Booth 3-5, Luedtke 1-3, Robinson 1-5, Ferraini 0-3), SDSU 8-19 (Scheierman 4-6, Mims 1-2, Easley 2-6, Arians 1-3, Wingett 0-2). Rebounds – O 31 (Hughes 6), SDSU 34 (Scheierman 11). Assists – O 8 (Akinwole, Robinson 2), SDSU 22 (Scheierman, Wilson 7). Steals – O 4 (Smith, Pile, Booth, Ferrarini), SDSU 6 (Easley 3). Blocks – O 4 (Brougham 2), SDSU 6 (Wilson 3). Turnovers – O 10, SDSU 9. Total fouls – O 18, SDSU 14. Fouled out – none. Technical fouls – none. A – 200.