VERMILLION, S.D.—South Dakota erased an 18-point deficit over the final 15 minutes, only to see Kansas City reserve Jahshire Hardnett make his first shot of the game – a deep, pull-up 3-pointer with two seconds left to give the Roos a 78-75 win Sunday inside the Sanford Coyote Sports Center.
The victory is the first for Kansas City (7-7) on the road this season while handing South Dakota (9-5) its first loss at home. It was the final non-conference game for the Coyotes before opening Summit League play Dec. 29 at Western Illinois.
Kansas City senior forward Jordan Giles scored a career-high 25 points on 10-of-11 shooting while Brandon McKissic added 19 more on 9-of-11. The Roos shot 63 percent from the field including a 13-of-19 performance in the second half.
South Dakota got 29 points from
Tyler Hagedorn, equaling his second-highest output of the season.
Cody Kelley added 15 points and
Tyler Peterson chipped in 11. The Coyotes played the final 16:29 without a timeout and the final 12:10 without making a substitution. Hagedorn, Kelley, Peterson,
Ty Chisom and
Brandon Armstrong led the charge.
Chisom's driving layup with six seconds left completed the comeback and tied the game at 75-75. Hardnett took the inbounds pass, dribbled passed half court and pulled up well beyond the 3-point line before swishing the game winner. It was his third shot of the game and his only points.
Giles, who entered averaging six points a game, had 20 before halftime on 9-of-10 shooting. McKissic was perfect, 5-for-5, in the first half and Kansas City led 42-35 at the break.
It took five minutes for South Dakota to score its first points of the second half, and by that time Kansas City had pushed the lead to 53-35. Hagedorn scored 21 points over the final 14:52 to rally the Coyotes. His jumper with 10:45 left cut it to single digits at 56-48. He hit back-to-back triples to make it a one-score game at 68-66 with 3:55 left.
Kansas City made two field goals over the final 5:36, but they were 3-pointers by Rob Whitfield and Hardnett and they were enough.
