SPEARFISH, S.D. – The Black Hills State University men's basketball team travels to Golden, Colorado, to take on No. 12/15 Colorado School of Mines in the RMAC Tournament Semifinal. This is the first appearance in the second round for the Yellow Jackets.  

THE GAME – Colorado School of Mines Orediggers
» The Yellow Jackets and Orediggers have met twice in the 2018-19 season, with Mines winning both games. CSM defeated BHSU, 78-67, in Golden, before edging the Green and Gold, 73-69, in Spearfish.

» The Orediggers won the RMAC regular season title after going 21-1 in conference play. Mines is 25-4 overall, and nationally ranked No. 15 in the NABC poll. The team defeated No. 8-seeded Adams State, 82-70, in the first round of the postseason tournament, and will host the final two rounds.

» The team scores 83.0 points per game, led by Mason Baker, who averages 15.5 points per game. Ben Sonnefeld, who was named the RMAC Player of the Year, averages 14.2 ppg, while Ben Clare (11.9 ppg) and Michael Glen (11.4 ppg) also score in double figures. Glen leads the squad in rebounding, pulling down 6.6 boards per game.

» Sonnefeld was recently named the RMAC Player of the Year, while Clare was named Co-Defensive Player of the Year, and Pryor Orser earned Coach of the Year honors. Mines placed two players on the First Team (Baker, Sonnefeld).

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).

»  Pryor Orser, the 2018-19 RMAC Coach of the Year, is in his 17th year at the helm of Mines. He has led the Orediggers to eight NCAA tournament appearances.
 
Last Time Out
The Yellow Jackets hosted a RMAC playoff game for the first time in program history on March 5. BHSU defeated Colorado Mesa, 73-70, to move on to the semifinals. Dez Stoudamire led the team with 28 points, making six treys in the game. Tyler Oliver had 14 points, six rebounds, four assists, and a steal. Makaleb McInnis added 11 points, while Stefan Desnica had 10 points and four blocks. Antonio Capley tallied a double-double, recording 10 points and 12 rebounds.
 
Semifinals
The Yellow Jackets are making an appearance in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Second Round for the first time in program history. BHSU made the postseason tournament for the first time in 2017-18, falling in the first round to Regis.
 
To New Heights
The Green and Gold have won the most games this year (17) since the 2010-11 season, when BHSU won the DAC regular season and conference tournament. The 15 conference games the Yellow Jackets won this year are the most in the NCAA era.
 
Host With The Most
The Yellow Jackets hosted 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.
 
On Tap
If the Yellow Jackets can get past No. 1 seed Colorado School of Mines, they will play the winner of No. 3 Regis against No. 7 New Mexico Highlands on Saturday, March 6.
 
All-RMAC
Senior Fraser Malcolm was recently named to the All-RMAC First Team. Tyler Oliver earned Second Team honors, while Dez Stoudamire earned Honorable Mention.
 
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 2.8 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 10th 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 third in the RMAC. Dez Stoudamire averages 13.0 ppg, which sits 17th 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 ninth in the conference.
 
Defense First
The Yellow Jackets are allowing just 70.6 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 second in the league in free throw percentage, making 74.9 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 13 of 27 games so far. Individually, Dez Stoudamire's 2.6 three-pointers per game is tied for fourth in the RMAC, and his 33.5 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 10th in the league. BHSU has a +0.1 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.