Black Hills State men's basketball tips-off it's 2021-22 season as the team takes on Arkansas-Fort Smith and Oklahoma Christian this weekend at the Metro State Conference Challenge in Denver, Colo.
The Yellow Jackets will take on UAFS on Saturday, Nov. 13 at 6 p.m. and then will play OCU on Sunday, Nov. 14 at 4 p.m.
Black Hills State finished last season with an 11-7 record and advanced to the RMAC semifinals despite the year being affected and shortened due to the pandemic. Their 10-6 conference record was good for a third-place finish in the regular season as a new core developed with
Joel Scott,
Sindou Cisse and
Adam Moussa heading into the 2021-22 season.
TICKETING INFORMATION
Ticketing
MSU Denver has cashless digital ticketing. Tickets can be purchased in advance by visiting:
http://RoadrunnersAthletics.com/Tickets.
Masks
As of today, MSU Denver requires masks to be worn in indoor settings only. Please be sure to wear a mask when indoors. No masks are required when outdoors.
Parking
As a reminder, please park in the Tivoli Garage. Directions are below:
Physical Address of The Auraria Event Center:
1255 N 10th St
Denver, Colo. 80204
(On a GPS, it is near the corner of N. 10th St. & Larimer St.)
Traveling North To Denver (Auraria Event Center)
Take I-25 toward downtown and exit on the Auraria Parkway (#210C). Travel on the Auraria Parkway east coming toward downtown Denver. Turn right at Ninth Street. Turn left at Walnut Street. The Tivoli Student Union will be on your right. The Tivoli Parking Garage will be on your left. The Auraria Event Center is located directly southeast of the Tivoli Student Union.
Traveling South To Denver (Auraria Event Center)
Take I-25 toward downtown and exit at Speer Blvd. South. Take the bridge across I-25 to Auraria Parkway. Take a right on Auraria Parkway and immediately get in the far-left lane. Turn left at Ninth Street. Turn left on Walnut Street. The Tivoli Student Union will be on your right. The Tivoli Parking Garage will be on your left. The Auraria Event Center is located directly southeast of the Tivoli Student Union.
Once you have parked, you will need to go to a pay station and enter your license plate number and the validation code for the day. Validation codes will be posted on the day of the game three hours prior to the start of the game. The website to access the validation codes is:
http://RoadrunnersAthletics.com/ParkingCode.
BLACK HILLS STATE (0-0) VS. ARKANSAS FORT SMITH (0-0)
Last year, the Lions finished the season with an overall and conference record of 5-11 in the Lone Star Conference. The Yellow Jackets and Lions have played once before, meeting up on Nov. 9, 2019 in Fort Smith, Arkansas. UAFS defeated BHSU in a close game, 79-76.
LIONS' LAST TIME OUT
University of Arkansas – Fort Smith Men's Basketball couldn't slow down a hot-shooting St. Edward's University Saturday evening at the Stubblefield Center, with the Hilltoppers taking the season finale, 88-75.
St. Edward's shot 58.9 percent from the floor and 50.0 percent from beyond the arc, scoring 44 points in each half.
The Lions shot the ball well themselves, as well, shooting 49.0 percent from the field and 40.9 percent from three-point range.
The teams went back-and-forth in the opening minutes until the Hilltoppers broke a 14-14 tie with a 9-0 run. A three by senior guard Matthew Wilson briefly brought the Lions within seven, but the Hilltoppers extended the lead to as many as 15 points before the Lions ended the half on a 5-0 run to trail at the break, 44-34.
UAFS hovered around a 10-point deficit until a layup by junior guard Daryl McElrath pulled the Lions within 64-56 at the 9:43 mark. St. Edward's quickly extended the lead to 13 before a pair of Lions layups once again cut the deficit to single digits.
That was as close as the Lions would get, with St. Edward's leading by as many as 18 points before the Lions cut it to the final margin.
Both Wilson and freshman guard Payton Brown led the Lions with 22 points, going a combined 15-for-24 from the field and 7-for-14 from beyond the arc.
Freshman forward Justus Cooper narrowly missed a double-double with nine points and 10 rebounds, while sophomore guard Evan Anderson added eight points and eight assists. McElrath also scored eight points.
UAFS won the battle on the boards, 31-24, but St. Edward's had advantages of 20-6 and 36-24 in points off turnovers and points in the paint, respectively.
The Lions finished the season 5-11, with all 16 games in Lone Star Conference action. They finished 3-3 in the LSC North Division.
BLACK HILLS STATE (0-0) VS. OKLAHOMA CHRISTIAN (0-0)
The Eagles also only played its conference schedule last season, finishing 6-12 in the Lone Star Conference. This will be the first-ever meeting between the two programs.
EAGLES' LAST TIME OUT
Try as it might, Oklahoma Christian just couldn't quite ever take the lead in the final 10 minutes on Saturday afternoon against St. Mary's (Texas), as the Rattlers just kept hanging on and hanging on.
St. Mary's held on long enough to be able to pull away in the final two minutes for an 83-76 win over the Eagles in the season finale for both basketball teams in the Eagles' Nest, giving the Rattlers a split of their two games at OC.
OC capped a season in which it started 1-8 but recorded five wins over its final nine games. Coach Kendre Talley had hoped his team would finish on a three-game winning streak, but said the Eagles just made too many mistakes.
"We didn't play very well," Talley said. "They didn't do anything special or anything different. We just didn't play very well. We missed a lot of shots and missed some free throws. We had opportunities to win the game and we just didn't. We missed shots and didn't make plays when we should have."
A big factor for St. Mary's was free throws. The Rattlers were solid, making 26 of 30 attempts (86.7 percent) while OC went 14 of 23 (60.9 percent) from the line. That helped offset the fact OC made five more baskets (29 to 24) than did the Rattlers.
Tyler Caron made 11 of 12 free throws en route to a 23-point, 10-rebound performance for St. Mary's, while Caleb Jordan had 17 points and six assists and Mamady Djikine added 13 points and seven rebounds.
Two freshmen led the Eagles – Marco Foster with 20 points and seven rebounds and Nyk Madison with 17 points and six rebounds. Another freshman, Elijah Elliott, had seven points, eight assists and four steals.
OC closed the first half on a 7-0 burst, with Elliott's layup at the buzzer putting the Eagles ahead 38-36. St. Mary's coach Jim Zeleznak protested a no-call at the other end (before Elliott scored) so vociferously that officials issued him a technical foul after the half ended, and OC took advantage, with Foster hitting two free throws to open the half and Madison following with a basket to put the Eagles up 42-36.
St. Mary's responded with a 17-3 run to go up 55-48 with 14:07 left. OC took its final lead at 56-55 after consecutive baskets by Shem'mario Stephens, the latter with 11:46 left. Jaron Presley buried two 3-pointers for the Rattlers to put them back ahead and they never trailed again – but they also never led by more than five points until the final moments.
OC pulled even at 71-71 with 4:28 left on a 3-pointer by Foster, but Caron and Jordan each hit a pair of free throws, the latter with 3:17 left. The Eagles were within 77-75 after a reverse layup by Madison with 2:17 left, but he missed a subsequent free throw and OC managed only one point the rest of the way. St. Mary's went 4 of 6 from the free-throw line in the final 31.9 seconds to seal its win.
OC finished 13th among 15 teams in the LSC's point-rating system, instituted for this season because teams didn't play balanced schedules during the COVID-19 pandemic.
As of now, the Eagles figure to return nearly their whole roster except for senior reserve forward Harrison Martin, who was honored Saturday on Senior Day and earned his first career start. They also should have two key players returning – senior point guard Jonathan Reyes-Valdez and sophomore Lamarcus Donahue, who missed all or most of this season due to injury.
"We still played hard," Talley said. "I'm disappointed we lost and all of that, but it's just tough when you don't get practice time (because of COVID-19). It's just part of basketball. My main point to (my players) today is, the foundation is laid. We know that we can be a very competitive team in this league. Once that foundation is there, all you have to do is build. We just have to continue to improve."
COACHES
Head coach
Ryan Thompson enters his fourth season leading the Yellow Jackets, boasting a 49-27 record over his first three seasons at the helm. He has taken the BHSU men's program to the RMAC tournament each of the last three years and was named RMAC Coach of the Year following the 2019-20 season.
Arkansas Fort Smith is headed by long-time head coach, Jim Boone. Boone is entering his third season with the lions, but 36th season as an NCAA head coach having accumulated a 576-440 record during his time.
Kendre Talley has been head coach of the Eagles since 2019 when he was named interim coach, before being named head coach in 2020. Talley is 16-29 through his first two seasons at the helm.
ABOUT BLACK HILLS STATE
Before jumping to Division II, the Yellow Jackets had a lot of history at the NAIA level in the DAC, winning 14 conference championships. Since becoming a DII institution, BHSU has been improving, and has started to hit their stride over the last few years, making the RMAC Tournament each of the last three seasons while combining for an overall record of 49-27 over that time. This year they look to continue taking steps forward under fourth-year head coach
Ryan Thompson.
A SATURDAY BHSU WIN WOULD...
Give the Yellow Jackets a win to start the season for the first time since the 2017-18 season when they opened the year winning their first three contests and finishing 15-12 that year.
A SATURDAY BHSU LOSS WOULD...
Make it four-straight seasons that BHSU has dropped its season opener. Despite losing their first game in each of the last three seasons, the Yellow Jackets have a .645 winning percentage over that time.
PRESEASON POLL
Black Hills State men's basketball tallied one first-place vote on their way to being picked third in the 2021-22 RMAC Preseason Coaches Poll, released Wednesday morning.
The poll is voted on by all 15 head men's basketball coaches in the RMAC.
2020-21 HONORS AND AWARDS
Last season,
Joel Scott was named NABC First Team All-District and First Team All-RMAC.
Sindou Cisse earned Second Team All-RMAC while
Adam Moussa and
Trey Whitley each earned All-RMAC Honorable Mention.
Tommy Donovan was named as the 2021 MBB RMAC Summit Award winner for having the highest GPA among student-athletes at the RMAC Tournament.
-BHSUAthletics.com-
