SPEARFISH, S.D. – The Black Hills State University men's basketball team opens the 2018-19 season this weekend at the East-West Challenge in Sioux Falls, S.D. The Yellow Jackets will play Northern State on November 16, before taking on Augustana on August 17.

THE GAME – Northern State University Wolves     

» NSU leads the all-time series with BHSU, 59-20. The Wolves have won the last nine meetings, including a 68-46 game last season in Aberdeen.

» Northern State is coming off a year in which they made it to the Elite Eight for the second time in school history. The team was selected to finish fifth in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference.

» Northern State has begun the season 1-1, with an overtime loss to #5 Northwest Missouri State (72-20) and a victory over #7 Queens (87-74). They are currently ranked No. 16 in the D2SIDA poll this week.

» The Wolves are averaging 78.5 points per game over two games, while allowing 73.0 points per game. Four players have averaged double-figure scoring, led by Ian Smith who scores 14.5 ppg. Parker Fox scores 12.5 ppg and pulls down a team-leading 8.0 rebounds per game.

THE GAME – Augustana University Vikings

» The Yellow Jackets and Vikings meet for the 20th time in their histories on Saturday. Augustana currently leads the series, 13-6, with the last meeting coming in 2013, when BHSU won, 83-67.

» Augustana has opened the season, 2-1, defeating Southern Arkansas, 75-67, and falling to Henderson State, 83-77, before beating Chadron State, 83-69.

» The Vikings average 78.3 points per game, while allowing 73.0 points per game. Tyler Riemersma leads the Vikings with 21.0 ppg and 7.7 rpg.

THE COACHES

» Ryan Thompson enters his first year at the helm of the Yellow Jackets after spending the previous four years as the assistant coach.

» Paul Sather is in his ninth year as the head coach of the Wolves. He has a 162-82 record at NSU, and is the reigning NSIC Coach of the Year.

»Tom Billeter is in his 16th season at the helm of the Vikings. He is the all-time winningest coach at Augustana, with winning records for the past 12 years.

 Last Time Out

The Yellow Jackets finished the 2017-18 season bowing out of the RMAC Tournament with a quarterfinal loss to Regis, 78-66. It was the first ever appearance in the conference tournament for BHSU, and came after a seventh place regular season finish. In the loss to the Rangers, Fraser Malcolm scored 18 points, while Dez Stoudamire had 14, and Stefan Desnica had 10.

The Green and Gold concluded their season with a 15-12 overall record. The 12-10 RMAC record was the first winning record since joining Division II.

Preseason Nod

Fraser Malcolm was selected to the Preseason All-RMAC Team. He was one of 10 players to make the team, and earned the accolade after leading the Yellow Jackets in scoring and rebounding last year, tallying 14.2 points per game and 7.3 rebounds per game.

BHSU Picked Eighth by RMAC Coaches

Black Hills State was tabbed eighth in the RMAC Coaches' Poll with 116 points. Regis was voted to finish first with eight first place votes (216 points), while Colorado School of Mines (four first place votes), Fort Lewis (two  first place votes), and Dixie State (two first place votes) were selected to finished second, third, and fourth, respectively, after all receiving at least two first place votes.

Moving On Up

Fraser Malcolm makes a number of appearances in the BHSU career record lists. Malcolm currently sits sixth in free throws made (169), seventh in field goals made (311), sixth in rebounds (428), and fifth in blocks (44). With one season to play, Malcolm was sixth in career points per game (11.2), fifth in field goal percentage (.459), seventh in rebounding average (5.5), and third in free throw percentage (.790). Also making an appearance in the career record lists is Antonio Capley, who currently has 26 blocks, good for ninth all time.

Post Season Accolade

Fraser Malcolm, after leading BHSU in scoring and rebounding, was named to the All-RMAC Second Team following the 2017-18 season.

All-Academic

Two Yellow Jackets were named to the RMAC All-Academic Honor Roll for the 2017-18 season. Stefan Desnica and Wyatt Krogman each earned the honor.

New Faces

The Yellow Jackets will be playing under the eye of a new head coach this season. Ryan Thompson, who acted as the BHSU Assistant Coach for the previous four seasons, now moves to the helm of the program. Coach Thompson welcomes seven newcomers as the Green and Gold will have a lot of new faces. Five freshmen and two transfers join nine returners.

National Team Representation

Fraser Malcolm played for the Scottish National Team at the Commonwealth Games in April 2018. Malcolm has now represented his country on five different occasions, however, this was his first appearance with the Senior Team.

International Relations

The Yellow Jacket men's basketball team has five players from across the oceans. Patrick Mendes and Edin Hanusa made their way to the Black Hills from Sweden. Fraser Malcolm traveled across the pond from Scotland, while Stefan Desnica and Sava Dukic both came from Serbia with a pit stop at San Gabriel Academy in California.

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Black Hills State is located in the Northern Black Hills of South Dakota, sponsoring 13 NCAA sports with membership in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference, the NCAA emerging sport of women's triathlon and NIRA rodeo. For all information regarding Yellow Jacket Athletics, please visit BHSUAthletics.com or follow us on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram @BHSUAthletics.

---BHSUAthletics.com---