Aberdeen, S.D. – The Northern State University men's basketball team rolled to their third straight victory Monday evening, defeating Black Hills State 68-46 from Wachs Arena. The Wolves improve to 4-1 on the season, with three non-conference match-ups remaining.
 
Defense was the story of the night for the Wolves as they held the Yellow Jackets, who were averaging 92.5 points per game, to just 20 points in the first half and 46 overall. Northern forced 18 turnovers in the win, which resulted in 18 points. NSU led by as much as 31 points with just under five minutes remaining in regulation.
 
As a team, the Wolves shot 40.7 percent from the floor, 38.7 percent from the arc, and 60.0 percent from the foul line. They tallied 20 points in the paint, 17 points off the bench, and 15 points off 12 offensive boards. Black Hills out-rebounded the Wolves by two in the game, as Northern tallied 37 as a team.
 
Darin Peterka, DJ Pollard, Logan Doyle, and Gabe King each notched a team leading 11 points in the win. Peterka added three rebounds and a team second best three assists, currently sitting just five points away from 1,000 on his career. Doyle notched a team leading nine rebounds, while shooting 80.0 percent from the floor and adding three steals and one block. Pollard and King each tallied four rebounds and two steals, while knocking down three 3-pointers each.
 
Ian Smith led the team dishing out six assists in the win. He added a team second best seven points, as well as three rebounds. Bo Fries led the team off the bench with seven points of his own, closely followed by Carter Evans with six.
 
Andrew Kallman connected for one of the team's long range buckets, and added two assists and one steal. Evans led the rebounding effort off the bench with four total, while leading the team with two blocks.
 
The Wolves return to action this weekend from the Sanford Pentagon Classic. Northern will play two games in conjunction with two NCAA Division I contests each day. Tip-off is scheduled for 12 p.m. on Saturday versus Missouri Southern and 5:30 p.m. on Sunday against NYIT. Fans are reminded that one ticket will get them into all four contests each day and can be pre-purchase online through the Pentagon Ticketmaster Page or the day of the game at the Pentagon Box Office.