Maryland vs. SDSU: Score and Twitter Reaction from March Madness 2016

It's a well-known fact that guard Melo Trimble is the engine that makes No. 5 Maryland go. But during the Terrapins' first-round 79-74 escape over No. 12 South Dakota State Friday, Jake Layman and Jared Nickens were the ones to carry the team to the second round.

Layman recorded a game-high 27 points, while Nickens added 14 off the bench in support of Trimble's 19. 

The Terps almost gave away an 18-point second-half advantage, as a late Rasheed Sulaimon steal in the final 10 seconds with Maryland up by just three confirmed the win. 

South Dakota State found a way to stay in the game despite shooting 40 percent from the field while hitting just 10 of 29 three-point attempts. With their defense proving troublesome to Maryland, the Jackrabbits remained within striking distance for most of the game as Summitt Hoops, SDSU's conference, watched:

Mike Daum played a big part in that as he tried to spark the Jackrabbits, via NCAA March Madness:

For a Maryland team stacked with talent like Trimble, Sulaimon and Diamond Stone, the offense was underwhelming due to South Dakota State's organization.

Trimble carried the Terps with 15 first-half points as SB Nation's Testudo Times looked on:

Luckily for the Terrapins, their defense was just as solid, as they forced South Dakota State to shoot 26 percent from the floor in the first half. 

Maryland was finally able to break through the Jackrabbits defense in the final five minutes of the half with an 11-2 run, which opened up a 12-point lead. 

SB Nation's Rodger Sherman was convinced that things would change despite Maryland's 21-0 mark when leading at halftime this season:

The Terps were forced to keep the lead without Trimble for a seven-minute stretch in the second half after he picked up his third foul of the game. Maryland actually built its lead to as large as 18 thanks to two three-pointers from Layman and three from Nickens in five minutes.

The two combined for 22 of Maryland's 25 points in a six-minute stretch as it all went to plan, as CSN's Rob Carlin sarcastically observed:

SDSU finally came alive in the final 10 minutes of the game as it went on an 11-2 run and hit five straight shots to cut it to a nine-point deficit. 

The margin shrunk to five with three minutes to go after a pair of threes by Deondre Parks and George Marshall. With 1:03 remaining, Marshall was fouled on a three-point attempt by Trimble, who fouled out on the play. 

Marshall hit all three to make it a two-point game at 72-70, and Dan Diamond of Politico couldn't bear to watch:

On the very next Maryland possession, Marshall fouled out on an off-ball call that sent Layman to the line and opened up a Maryland four-point lead with 43 seconds left. 

South Dakota State could only hit one free throw and dropped back down by five after two more Layman free throws. But Sulaimon gave the Jackrabbits life when he fouled Parks on a three-point attempt with 13 seconds to go. Parks sunk all three and made it a two-point game once again. 

Jaylen Brantley hit one of two freebies, which gave SDSU a chance to tie, but a turnover through the hands of Keaton Moffitt fell to the arms of Sulaimon, who slammed the ball home with 0.2 seconds to go, putting the game away. 

With new life, Maryland will now face No. 13 Hawaii, which already has one upset under its belt after taking down No. 4 California earlier Friday. 

Post-Game Reaction

It wasn't easy, but Maryland just managed to hold on for a spot in the second round of the NCAA tournament. 

Head coach Mark Turgeon gave a quick synopsis of the game, via Argus Leader Media's Matt Zimmer:

The win was a stressful one, as NBC 4's Carol Maloney caught Turgeon breathing a sigh of relief as he walked to the locker room:

If it wasn't for the play of Layman, Turgeon might not be on his way to the second round and South Dakota State head coach Scott Nagy realized that, via Don Markus of the Baltimore Sun:

Maryland will need similar outputs from Layman and Trimble every night for the rest of this tournament if it wants to go deep. Obviously they'll need support as well whether it be from Nickens, Sulaimon or Stone. But Hawaii is a team that's shown in this tournament already that it has the killer instinct to take advantage of a team's weakness. 

If Maryland doesn't play a full 40 minutes, it could be going home early.

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Check out Bleacher Report's live updating bracket to track your picks along the road to the Final Four.

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Stats courtesy of ESPN.com.