BROOKINGS - The South Dakota State men's basketball team came from behind to beat Northern Iowa 61-55 on Friday night at Frost Arena in front of 1,322 fans for what might be the Jackrabbits' best win at home in the team's short Division I history.

The Jackrabbits improved to an even 2-2 with the win, while the Panthers fell to 4-1.

Garrett Callahan led the Jacks with 16 points, followed by Kai Williams with 13, but the star of the game was fifth-year senior Michael Loney.

His defensive play did not show up in the box score, (nine points, three rebounds, two assists and a steal) but it definitely made a difference in the final score, as Loney and company held the Panther's leading scorer Eric Coleman (14.8 points per game entering the game) to zero points.

The game started close, with six lead changes and five ties in the first 12 minutes.

A Clint Sargent three-pointer with 8:47 left in the first half gave the Jacks a 16-15 lead, but Travis Brown answered with a three of his own 26 seconds later that gave UNI a two-point lead and started a 14-2 Panther run over the next five minutes.

The Jackrabbits stayed the course, and came back to score the next nine points to cut the lead to two at 29-27 with 1:41 left in the half.

UNI's Jordan Eglseder, who finished the first half with 16 points and 11 rebounds, scored a late bucket to give his team a 31-27 going into the locker room.

SDSU wasted no time getting back into the game in the second half. It took the Jacks just 1:34 into the second half to tie the game and one minute more to take their first lead of the game at 34-31.

Over the first 8:43 of the half, the Jacks scored 13 points and held the Panthers to just two, which resulted in a 40-33 Jackrabbit lead.

The SDSU lead would never get higher than seven points, and even though Northern Iowa would get as close as 48-47 with 3:16 to play, the Jackrabbits did not trail after taking the lead with 16:16 to play.

Callahan went 5-for-6 from the free throw line in the last two minutes to secure the Jacks' second win of the season.

Defense made the difference in the game for the Jacks, after allowing 16 points to Eglseder in the first half, the Jacks defense held him to just one field goal in the second half, and that did not happen until 16:44 into the half.

Eglseder's 18 points led all scorers and three Panthers in double figures. Adam Koch and Jared Josten both finished with 10 points. Eglseder also finished with a game-high 14 rebounds.

The Jacks finished the game with a season-low nine turnovers while forcing 15, but did get out rebounded 35-23 by UNI.

The Jackrabbits return to the road on Wednesday for a game with Idaho, a team that swept the season series in 2006-07, including a 72-67 win on Dec. 30, in Moscow, Idaho.

Tip-off from Memorial Gym is scheduled for 8:30 p.m. MST.