VERMILLION, S.D. — With 46 points in the paint and 54.6 percent shooting from the field, the South Dakota men's basketball team topped Grambling State 84-55 Saturday night inside the Sanford Coyote Sports Center.
 
Tyler Hagedorn scored a game-high 15 points while Carlton Hurst and Tyler Peterson each added 10 points as the Coyotes held the Tigers to just 32.7 percent (18-of-55) shooting. Bobby Jackson scored a team-high nine points for GSU off the bench.
 
"I thought we played well on the defensive end," head coach Craig Smith said. "Defense has been our calling card as we held another team in the low-thirties (shooting percentage), and I think that tells you where we are at as a team mentally. When you are able to extend the lead to 25 points with 10 minutes to play and still dig in, our guys showed me something tonight."
 
South Dakota (3-1) opened the game with a 13-2 run and led 20-5 with 13:25 remaining in the first half. The Coyotes got on the board just 10 seconds into the game on a Hagedorn layup and he added two free throws on the following trip down the floor. After Trey Burch-Manning scored on a layup, Grambling State (0-3) scored its first points of the contest on a pair of free throws by DeVante Jackson.
 
The Coyotes led by as many points as 17 points in the first half when Brandon Armstrong sank a 3-point basket with 7:49 on the clock. South Dakota then entered halftime with a 14-point lead at 41-27.
 
A 15-2 run to open the second half gave USD a 25-point advantage with 12:53 remaining in the game. The run ended with an old-fashioned 3-point play by Nick Fuller and a pair of free throws by Peterson.
 
Grambling State was not able to get closer than 20 points as South Dakota closed with the final score of 84-55.
 
After the three Coyotes in double-digit scoring, Fuller tallied nine points on a perfect 4-of-4 from the field. Triston Simpson added nine points of his own with three assists and a steal. He was aided by making 7-of-8 free throws, part of the Coyotes season-best 88.9-percent shooting from the charity stripe at 24-of-27.
 
The Coyotes won the rebound battle 35-30 with Burch-Manning grabbing a game-high nine rebounds. Defensively, the Coyotes had 11 steals and seven blocks to aid in 18 fast-break points.
 
Stanley Umude made his collegiate debut in the contest, driving the baseline and scoring his first basket on a layup late in the game.
 
South Dakota remains at home on Monday, hosting Mount Marty with a 7 p.m. tipoff. The game serves as the home-site contest for the Sanford Pentagon Showcase, which continues Nov. 24-26 in Sioux Falls.