SPEARFISH, S.D. – Dez Stoudamire scored 28 points, as the Black Hills State University men's basketball team took down Colorado Mesa University, 73-70, on Tuesday evening in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference quarterfinal round. The Yellow Jackets are the No. 4 seed in the tournament, and hosted the No. 5 Mavericks in the first ever home playoff game in the Division II era.

Stoudamire knocked down six three-pointers and finished with 28 points to lead the Yellow Jackets (17-10). Antonio Capley finished with a double-double, scoring 10 points, and pulling down 12 rebounds. Tyler Oliver added 14 points, six boards, and four assists, while Makaleb McInnis scored 11, and Stefan Desnica chipped in 10 points with four assists.

A pair of buckets by Capley started the Green and Gold off on the front foot, before the Mavericks (19-10) responded with seven straight points to take a 7-4 lead with 16:49 to play in the first. After the Yellow Jackets retook the lead, and pushed the cushion out to eight, at 21-13, CMU once again responded, eventually taking a two-point lead, 30-28, with under six to play in the first period. BHSU held a 39-35 lead at the break.

The second half was a back-and-forth affair. With BHSU ahead by five, 44-39, a 6-0 Maverick run changed the lead again, as the two teams battled to advance. The score was tied for the fifth time of the game, 58-58, with just over six minutes to play. Desnica sunk a three-pointer to give the Yellow Jackets a lead they would not relinquish. The home team was up by four, 71-67, with under 10 seconds to play. Tommy Nuno hit a contested trey from the corner to get CMU within one point, but after getting fouled, McInnis calmly knocked down his two shots from the charity stripe to put the Green and Gold back up three points with one second remaining. The Mavericks' inbounds pass was stolen by McInnis to seal the playoff victory, and put the Yellow Jackets into the RMAC semifinals for the first time in program history.    

BHSU shot 46.4 percent from the field (26-for-56), while CMU was 48.2 percent from the floor (27-for-56). The Yellow Jackets were 10-for-28 (35.7 percent) from beyond the arc, while the Mavericks were 5-for-18 (27.8 percent) on three-pointers. BHSU was 11-for-13 (84.6 percent) from the charity stripe, and CMU was 11-for-18 (61.1 percent) from the free throw line. The Green and Gold and the Mavericks both pulled down 32 rebounds in the game.

Tommy Nuno led CMU with 25 points, while Damon Dubots added 15. The RMAC's leading scorer, Connor Nichols was held to nine points and 10 rebounds by the Yellow Jacket's swarming defense.

With the quarterfinal victory, the Green and Gold will move on to the next round of the RMAC Tournament on Friday, March 8. Stay tuned to bhsuathletics.com for more information.

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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---