SPEARFISH, S.D. – The Black Hills State University men's basketball team will host Colorado Mesa University on March 5, in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Quarterfinals. The Yellow Jackets are the No. 4 seed in the tournament, and welcome the No. 5-seeded Mavericks at 6 p.m. in the Young Center.

THE GAME – Colorado Mesa University Mavericks
» The Yellow Jackets and Mavericks will meet for the second time this year. CMU won the first game (Jan. 5), 78-74, in Grand Junction. Fraser Malcolm led BHSU with 20 points, while Tyler Oliver had 15 points and Connor O'Hearn added 11 in the game.

» The Mavericks finished the regular season with a 19-9 overall record, and were 14-8 in RMAC play, securing the No. 5 seed in the conference tournament. Most recently, CMU defeated Western, 83-63, and the team is on a two-game winning streak.

» The team scores 81.8 points per game, led by Connor Nichols, who averages 21.1 ppg. Nichols also leads the squad in rebounding, pulling down 7.2 boards per game. Kenzo Nudo (13.7 ppg), Tommy Nuno (11.5 ppg), and Damon Dubots (10.7 ppg) also average double figure scoring.

THE COACHES
» Ryan Thompson enters his first year at the helm of the Yellow Jackets after spending the previous three years as the assistant coach. He recorded his first win as the head coach in a 65-62 victory over Augustana (Nov. 17, 2018).

»Mike DeGeorge is in his first year as the head coach of the Mavericks. Prior to coming to CMU, he spent eight years at Rhodes College.
 
Last Time Out
The Yellow Jackets wrapped up the regular season with a 69-61 victory over South Dakota Mines. Stefan Desnica drained a career-high seven three pointers for a career-high 23 points to lead BHSU in the rivalry game. He also dished a career-high four assists. Tyler Oliver filled the statsheet, recording 10 points, six rebounds, seven assists, one block, and one steal in 29 minutes. The Green and Gold have now won four games in a row over the Hardrockers.
 
Host With The Most
The Yellow Jackets are hosting a home playoff game for the first time since they joined Division II and the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference. The 2017-18 season was the first time BHSU made the tournament (No. 8 seed), and followed that appearance up by clinching a home game in the quarterfinals as the No. 4 seed, hosting No. 5 Colorado Mesa. Other games in the tournament include No. 8 Adams State at No. 1 Colorado School of Mines, No. 7 New Mexico Highlands at No. 2 Dixie State, and No. 6 UCCS at No. 3 Regis.
 
To New Heights
The Green and Gold have won the most games this year (16) since the 2010-11 season, when BHSU won the DAC regular season and conference tournament. The 15 conference games the Yellow Jackets have won this year are the most in the NCAA era.
 
Six in a Row
BHSU has two different six-game winning streaks this year. The team won six games between Jan. 25 and Feb. 9, while also opening Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference play with six consecutive victories. The streak was the first time since the 2010-11 season that the Yellow Jackets won at least six games in a row. The Green and Gold won the Dakota Athletic Conference that year, and made it to the second round of the NAIA Tournament.  It is also the first time that the team has won at least five games in a row twice in a season.
 
Road Warriors
The Yellow Jackets have recorded the most wins away from Spearfish since the 2010-11 season (12). The eight wins on the road so far this year are the most while playing in the RMAC.
 
All-Academic
Stefan Desnica was named a member of the RMAC All-Academic Honor Roll. The junior has a 3.507 in business administration, while averaging 4.1 ppg and 2.2 rpg.
 
Conference Accolades
Two Yellow Jackets have been named RMAC Offensive Player of the Week so far this year. Tyler Oliver earned the accolade on December 17 for his play against Adams State and Fort Lewis. He averaged 19.5 ppg, 10.5 rpg, and 4.0 apg in the two games. Fraser Malcolm was named the RMAC Offensive Player of the Week on January 28 for his play in a pair of wins against New Mexico Highlands and CSU-Pueblo. The senior scored 27 points in each game, recording a double-double against the Cowboys with 10 rebounds.
 
Denied
The Yellow Jackets are averaging 2.7 blocks per game so far this season. That is good for eighth in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference. Antonio Capley averages 0.9 blocks per game, which puts him tied for ninth in the RMAC. His 24 blocks this season are the most since the 2010-11 season, and tied for fifth most all time.  
 
Score on 'Em
Despite his season-ending injury, Fraser Malcolm is averaging 16.0 points per game to lead BHSU, which is also good for eighth in the league. He made 52.1 percent of his shots from the floor, ranking fourth in the RMAC. Dez Stoudamire averages 12.4 ppg, which sits 26th in the conference.
 
Dish It
Tyler Oliver currently ranks eighth in the RMAC, dishing out 3.4 assists per game. His 1.4 assist-to-turnover ratio is 10th in the conference.
Defense First
The Yellow Jackets are allowing just 70.7 points per game scored against them, which is fourth in the RMAC. BHSU is one of just seven teams in the conference with a positive scoring margin (+2.4).
 
Charity Stripe Work
BHSU is currently third in the league in free throw percentage, making 74.6 percent from the line.
 
Downtown Living
The Green and Gold currently sit fourth in the conference in three-point field goals made per game, with 9.4. The team has made double-digit treys in 12 of 26 games so far. Individually, Dez Stoudamire's 2.5 three-pointers per game is tied for fifth in the RMAC, and his 32.5 percentage from beyond the arc is sixth. Meanwhile, Fraser Malcolm made 2.0 treys per game, which is 12th in the conference.
 
Crash the Glass
Tyler Oliver is averaging 4.8 defensive rebounds per game, which is 11th in the league. BHSU has a +0.2 rebounding margin, which is ninth in the RMAC.
 
1000 Point/500 Rebound Club
Fraser Malcolm is the latest member of the Yellow Jackets to reach 1,000 career points. He surpassed the milestone on a three-pointer in the first half in a win against Dixie State (Dec. 8, 2018). With his season cut short due to injury, the senior has now finished his career at 1,260 total points. Malcolm also finished with over 500 rebounds to go with his 1,000 points. He grabbed his 500th board in a loss to UCCS (Jan. 18, 2019), and sits at 554 total. 
 
Weekend Sweep
The Yellow Jackets men's and women's basketball teams went 4-0 against Adams State and Fort Lewis on the road December 16-17. This was the first time since BHSU joined the RMAC (2012-13) that the two teams swept a weekend on the road. The Green and Gold are a combined 11-3 in league play during the 2018-19 season.
 
Moving On Up
Fraser Malcolm makes a number of appearances in the BHSU career record lists. Malcolm sits fifth in free throws made (227), third in field goals made (452), third in rebounds (554), sixth in three point field goals made (129), and fourth in blocks (55). 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 51 blocks, good for fifth all time, and Stefan Desnica, who has 35 blocks to put him eighth. Patrick Mendes currently sits ninth in free throws made (152), while Dez Stoudamire's 124 three-point field goals made rank eighth.
 
First of Many
Head coach Ryan Thompson earned his first career win as the head coach of Black Hills State University against Augustana University, Nov. 17, 2018. The Yellow Jackets got the win, 65-62, in a back-and-forth affair at the East-West Challenge.
    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.