SPEARFISH, S.D. – The Black Hills State University men's basketball team fell late to Regis 57-56 Friday night in the Young Center.

Patrick Mendes tied a career-best 15 points on 6-of-10 shooting while adding four rebounds as the Yellow Jackets fall to 4-7 overall land 1-4 in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference. Regis improves to 8-3, 2-3.

The Yellow Jackets appeared to pull away on several transition plays beginning with 6:33 remaining in the game. The run began when LD Thomas pitched ahead to Max Mueller for the easy dunk. Quickly transitioning back to defense Mueller blocked the layup of Dexter Sienko.

On the next Yellow Jacket possession Fraser Malcolm scored an old-fashioned 3-point play to give the Yellow Jackets a 53-46 lead with 6:16 remaining in the game.

Regis then went on an 8-0 run to take their first lead of the game at 54-53 and 3:16 remaining in the contest. Each team then played hot potato with the lead until the final points of the game were a 3-point shot from Noah King to give the Rangers a 57-56 lead with 2:07 left.

The Yellow Jackets created an opportunity in the final seconds for the game-winning basket when Connor O'Hearn stripped the ball from Kevin Metoyer with 21 seconds on the clock. After a timeout, the Yellow Jackets had a chance to win the game when Malcolm shot a contested shot that rimmed out as time expired.

Mendes led all scorers with 15 points while Mueller grabbed a game-high seven rebounds. Connor O'Hearn played arguably the best game of his young career scoring six points on 2-of-2 shooting, dishing three assists and tallying two steals.

King led the Rangers with 11 points as Christian Little tallied 10. The Yellow Jacket defense held an opponent well under its season average as Regis entered the game averaging 80.6 points per game.

Black Hills State plays the final game of a four-game homestand Saturday with a 6 p.m. tipoff against regional rival Chadron State. The Eagles fell Friday night to South Dakota Mines, 76-71.