Trojans Men’s Basketball Losses on Day One of Milanovich Classic

On the first day of the Milanovich Classic for the Dakota State Men’s Basketball team, Rocky Mountain never trailed in the game, as they rolled past Dakota State 81-71 in the first-ever all-time series meeting.

After a scoreless first minute of the game, Jesse Owens opened with a basket inside the paint to give RMC a 2-0 lead with 18:46 on the clock. Trailing 14-8, the Trojans went on a 6-0 scoring run to record the second tie of the game at 14-14 capped by a basket by DeShawn Kelly with 11:40 to go before halftime.

After the fourth tie at 19-19, Owens scored six points during Rocky Mountain’s 8-0 scoring run to balloon their lead to 27-19 with 6:24 left in the first half. The Battlin’ Bears would end the first half with a 21-7 scoring outburst.  

RMC led as many as 17 points in the first half, at 38-21 with less than a minute to go and 40-23 with less than 15 seconds to go in the first.

The Battlin’ Bears maintained their double-digit lead for the rest of the game, posting their biggest lead of the game by 22 points, even though DSU outscored RMC 45-41 in the final twenty minutes of the game.

Rocky Mountain went on to win 81-71. 

Kelly led Dakota State with 18 points and two blocks off the bench.  He grabbed five rebounds and registered two assists. Sam Muller added 12 points (6-of-10 field goals) and grabbed eight rebounds. Ronnie Latting tallied 11 points.

Ethan Damerum posted a double-double of 10 points and pulled down a season-high 14 rebounds for DSU, and also contributed six assists. Taylor Edwards had four points, five rebounds, and two assists.

Owens poured in 24 points on his 9-of-17 field goals and 3-of-6 free-throws for Rocky Mountain

Rocky Mountain shot 46.3 percent overall from the field (31-of-67 field goals) compared to Dakota State 45.5 percent (30-of-66 field goals). The Battlin’ Bears also hit 8-of-22 3-pointers and held the Trojans to 3-of-19 3-pointers

The Trojans fell to 2-3 overall record.  The Battlin’ Bears lifted their overall record to 5-1.

Dakota State wraps up the two-day tournament Saturday evening against Montana Western, who is coached by former Trojan athlete and assistant coach Mike Larsen. Tip-off is set for 6pm.