The South Dakota State men started slow, but erupted in the second half to secure its fifth straight win with an 84-58 drubbing of Eastern Illinois behind a career-high 24 points from Chad White on Nov. 27 in front of 1,798 fans at Frost Arena

The Jackrabbits improved to a perfect 5-0 with the win.

White reached the career mark on 9-of-12 shooting, including a 5-for-7 night from three-point range. Griffan Callahan added 16 points on 5-of-6 shooting, with a 3-for-4 night from long range and led the Jacks with eight rebounds. Nate Wolters and Clint Sargent both finished with 12 points in the win and combined for 10 assists, while Jordan Dykstra added a career-high nine points, all in the second half.

Tyler Laser led EIU with 12 points in the loss, James Hollowell and Curry McKinney both finished with 11.

After allowing the Panthers to shoot 57 percent in the first half, the Jacks shut them down in the second half, holding them to 24 percent shooting.

“In the second half we were a good defensive team,” SDSU head coach Scott Nagy said after the game. “We went from tied with them on the boards at halftime to up 12 just eight minutes into the second half. That’s why we made our run.”

The run Nagy refers to would be the 32-8 run the Jacks went on to start the second half and that pushed the their lead from 10 points at halftime to 34 points, 73-39, with 8:41 left to play in the game.

The Jacks went on to win the rebounding battle 33-28 after being tied at 12 rebounds for each team at halftime.

SDSU would boost that lead to as many as 36 with just under seven minutes to play before the Panthers cut the lead to the final 26 point margin.