BROOKINGS — The South Dakota State Jackrabbits welcomed Oscar Cluff back to the lineup as they defeated Eastern Washington 74-53 at First Bank & Trust Arena on Saturday night.

The win evened the Jackrabbits’ record in the Big Sky-Summit Challenge to 1-1 after dropping Wednesday’s game to Montana but the Cluff’s return proved its value against the Eagles, scoring a team-high 19 points and grabbing 11 rebounds.

“He just calms us down,” SDSU head coach Eric Henderson said of Cluff’s return. “That doesn’t take away from anything of our other guys because [Damon Wilkinson and William Whorton] because how they played in Oscar’s absence was incredible … but to have Oscar back, the amount of attention he receives from the other team is at a high level and it allows a lot of our other guys to do things to. But it’s a team game and we believe in every one of our guys, but it’s certainly good to have the big fellow back.”

Cluff made an instant impact in his return to the floor with 10 points before picking up his second foul with 9:33 left in the first half. But Cluff’s absence didn’t affect SDSU right away as several perimeter players stepped up. 

Joe Sayler scored 10 of his 18 points in the first half and Matthew Mors scored eight points and four rebounds in the first half to lead a 16-0 run over the final 5:39 of the first half that gave the Jacks a 42-22 lead at halftime.

“We had some guys that were in foul trouble and, honestly, we just got better,” Mors said of the run. “When they were out, we had guys step up and play really well and so that was big for us. Obviously, going on a 16-0 run is a big way to end the half and it kind of pushed us and gave us some momentum going into the locker room.”

While the Jacks shot 47 percent in the first half, their offense ran cold in the second half when they shot 34 percent in the second half. While Henderson liked the looks his team were getting, the shots weren’t falling and the Eagles took advantage temporarily by cutting the lead down to 52-42 on a jumper by Elijah Thomas with 8:47 left in the game.

But on a night where the Jacks shot just 7-for-31 on 3-pointers, they made up for it with a 47-23 edge in rebounding and an 18-2 advantage in offensive rebounds. 

Henderson said there were a couple of things that helped lead to the massive advantage on the glass, which helped SDSU out-score the Eagles 23-0 in second-chance points.

“It’s energy, it’s effort and our guys understanding that it’s a way they can make an impact,” Henderson said. “We were as deep as we’ve ever been, since I’ve been in the head coach here and to be able to play that many guys that we need to, they need to play as hard as they can. And if they’re a crash guy, go [rebound].”

The biggest beneficiary of that mentality was Cluff. Of Cluff’s 11 rebounds, seven of them were on the offensive end and when he got the ball, the Eagles couldn’t stop him as Cluff drew nine fouls on the night including a three-point play that pushed SDSU’s lead up to 56-42 with 7:27 left to play.

The lead never dipped below double-digits from there and SDSU earned a win to improve to 8-3 on the season. 

Mors was one of the key contributors in the win, scoring 14 points and grabbing seven rebounds with three assists. Henderson believes the Yankton native and former Wisconsin transfer has begun to settle into a role with the Jackrabbits and has lifted the weight off his shoulders after a stellar high school career where he was a three-time South Dakota Gatorade Boys Player of the Year.

“I think he finally has let the bricks off his shoulders,” Henderson said. “When he came here a couple of years ago…everybody had expectations that he was going to be all world, right? He’s helped us from Day 1 in many different ways, but the work that he’s put in, the time that he’s put in, the passion that he has for our team, it’s really exciting to watch him have success on the floor.”

Kalen Garry had seven points and six rebounds. Isaac Lindsey and Owen Larson had six points each.

Andrew Cook had 13 points and six rebounds to lead the Eagles. Nic McClain had eight points and Mason Williams had seven points.

SDSU shot 40.6 percent in the game and made 15-of-16 (93.8%) free throws. The Jacks also had 15 turnovers.

Eastern Washington shot 36.4 percent from the floor including 4-for-22 (18.2%) on 3-pointers. The Eagles made 17-of-22 (77.3%) free throws and had 14 turnovers.

SDSU will now head on the road for a pair of games out west beginning with Wednesday’s matchup at Nevada. But for a team with just four juniors and seniors combined, Henderson believes his team is gaining confidence as they head into the middle part of the season.

“I’m very proud of the guys. Every one of them,” Henderson said. “We’ve got four guys redshirt and the 11 guys that are playing are all finding ways to contribute. That makes me really proud. We understand that we have a long way to go. We have areas that we need to get a lot better at. … But the confidence isn’t an issue right now. These guys … they’re getting more experience every time they step on the floor and we don’t look at them like freshmen.”