VERMILLION, S.D.—South Dakota guard Bostyn Holt made a go-ahead layup in overtime with 31 seconds left and the Coyotes survived four St. Thomas shots on the final possession of a 74-73 overtime win Thursday inside the Sanford Coyote Sports Center.
 
South Dakota (9-10, 2-2 Summit) improved to 5-0 all-time against St. Thomas and moved back to .500 in the conference standings. The Tommies (13-7, 3-2) entered with the highest NET ranking among Summit League teams but have lost two of their last three. South Dakota is the only Summit League team St. Thomas has yet to beat since joining the league three years ago.
 
South Dakota competed without leading scorer Kaleb Stewart due to illness but got five 3-pointers and 17 points from Max Burchill, another double-double performance from big man Lahat Thioune, and a spark off its bench from redshirt freshman Jevon Hill.
 
It was Hill's offensive rebound and putback at the end of regulation that forced the extra frame. He also drilled a step-back 3-pointer with 1:10 left in overtime that cut a 73-69 deficit to one. Hill scored 12 points on 4-of-6 shooting in 23 minutes off the bench. He finished one point shy of his career high.
 
"Jevon has been really patient," said USD head coach Eric Peterson. "He redshirted last year, he's had to earn it this year. He hasn't gotten a lot of minutes, but lately he has because he's earned it at practice.
 
"Everybody believes in Jevon. The play we called for him at the end of overtime was a set play called for Jevon to make that shot. Everybody believes in him. We called the play and he made the shot."
 
Parker Bjorklund had 17 points and seven rebounds to lead four Tommie starters who scored in double figures. St. Thomas led 59-49 at the midpoint of the second half but made 4-of-23 shots the rest of the way including a 1-for-10 performance in overtime.
 
Raheem Anthony had a driving layup blocked out of bounds by Thioune on the final possession. Brooks Allen took a 3 on the out-of-bounds play that followed, Anthony rebounded and missed a shot in the paint and Allen missed a putback try before time expired.
 
Thioune led all scorers with 18 points and was 8-of-11 from the field. His 10 rebounds gives him nine double-doubles this season. The eight that he entered the night with ranked 14^th nationally.
 
Burchill made his first four 3-pointers and pushed South Dakota to a 22-13 lead eight minutes into the contest. It was just what the Coyotes needed to get going without Stewart in the lineup. His 17 points were one shy of his career high and his effort on the defensive end was noticeable.
 
South Dakota made 8-of-22 three-point shots while St. Thomas made 9-of-36. The Tommies' 25 percent effort from deep is their lowest since a Dec. 6 contest against Milwaukee.
 
The Coyotes stay home for a rivalry game against South Dakota State Saturday at 1 p.m. The Jackrabbits moved to 10-9 overall and 3-1 in conference play Thursday with a 90-87 win at home against Omaha.