SPEARFISH - The seventh-ranked Black Hills State Yellow Jackets led from the first basket to the final whistle as they grabbed their ninth straight victory and improved to 11-1 on the season with a 73-64 win over Shorter College, Ga., on Monday night at the Perkins Classic.

"I couldn't be happier, we played a lot better tonight than we did our last two games," said Black Hills State head coach Paul Sather. "I think when our guys watched film on these guys they realized they're record was a little deceiving."

The Yellow Jackets got production out of the perimeter and post play, shooting 40 percent from outside the arc as well as earning some hardnosed points in the paint.

Black Hills was led down low by Will John Johnson, who came into the game leading the Dakota Athletic Conference in rebounding with 11 per game. On Monday, he had 16 and scored 14 points as he won the battle against Shorter's 6-foot-10 center Qavotstara Waddell.

"This was a physical game," said Sather. "We scored 26 points and grabbed 26 rebounds from our three post players, so that is about what we're looking for. We won a hard fought, grind-it-out game tonight."

The Yellow Jackets had solid ball movement most of the night and spread the ball around as four players scored in double figures in the game. Cain Atkinson, who came into the game averaging 17.2 points per game, led the way again for the Yellow Jackets scoring a game high 23 points while going 14-of-16 from the free throw line.

The closest Shorter College came was when they cut the lead to 28-26 in the first half.

The Yellow Jackets play Johnson and Wales, Colo., at 7:30 p.m. at the Young Center in Spearfish.