Black Hills State men's basketball will round out its 2021-22 non-conference schedule on Wednesday as the team travels to Montana State University Billings, tipping off at 7 p.m.
Coming off a couple of hard-fought games over the weekend against Augustana and Northern State, BHSU will now look to improve on its 2-2 record before opening RMAC play, which begins Dec. 3 as the Yellow Jackets host Western Colorado.
BLACK HILLS STATE (2-2) VS. MSU BILLINGS (1-3)
MSUB is 1-3 so far this season, defeating Holy Names University at the 2021 Cal State San Marcos Crossover. The Yellowjackets most recently played Minot State on Saturday, falling 77-59. Last season, MSUB played only two exhibition games due to the pandemic-shortened season.
BHSU has played MSUB five times in its history, all since 2012. Their last matchup came in 2018 as BHSU fell, 90-70. The Yellow Jackets are 1-4 against MSUB, with their win coming in 2013 in a 97-77 victory.
YELLOW JACKETS' LAST TIME OUT
Black Hills State men's basketball played hard Saturday night, but ultimately fell to Northern State, 92-90, wrapping up the 2021 East-West Challenge.
The Yellow Jackets (2-2, 0-0 RMAC) shot at a 52.7 percent clip from the field and made 17 threes in the game, which ties for second all-time in school history.
Sindou Cisse and
PJ Hayes each had career-best scoring performances. Cisse finished with 26 points, going 10-of-14 from the field along with his six rebounds, four assists and two steals.
Hayes totaled 20 points, sinking six 3-pointers (6-of-11) in his 24 minutes on the court. His six treys in the game ties him for eighth all-time at BHSU. Hayes also grabbed three rebounds and two steals.
Joel Scott recorded his third double-double of the young season with 14 points and 10 rebounds.
Adam Moussa dished out a team-high six assists while scoring 13 points.
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Caelin Hearne 3-pointer opened the scoring for the Yellow Jackets before back-and-forth play ensued. Four lead changes later, a Hayes 3-pointer and Scott free throw brought it back to a 1-point game, as NSU led 14-13 at 13:30.
Minutes later, eight-straight points from Hayes put the Yellow Jackets back ahead, 21-18 at the midway point of the first half. The Wolves wouldn't roll over, though, retaking the lead once again shortly thereafter.
With under four minutes left in the half, Hayes stayed hot beyond the arc as he drained his fifth trey of the game to put BHSU up 40-37. From there, the Yellow Jackets would hold the lead into halftime, 48-46.
Out of the break, both teams traded points as BHSU held onto its lead, but NSU wouldn't let the Yellow Jackets break away. BHSU took its largest lead of the game at 13:20 when a Cisse 3-pointer put the team ahead 66-59.
NSU would answer that with a 13-1 run to regain the lead at 72-67, midway through the second half. The Yellow Jackets followed that with a run of their own, making five of their next six 3-point tries to go ahead 84-80 with 5:12 remaining in the game.
BHSU held the lead into the final minute of play before the Wolves jumped back ahead late, 90-89 with a layup. NSU made another layup down the stretch to put them ahead by three in the closing seconds, and they would hold on as time expired.
MSUB's LAST TIME OUT
The Montana State University Billings locked down Minot State's hot-shooting offense in the first half but couldn't quite put two halves together in a 77-59 non-conference loss at Alterowitz Gym on Saturday night.
Carrington Wiggins was the leading scorer once again with 18 points – including 13 in the second half. Jaren Fritz and Nicholas Sebastiao gave MSUB a lift off the bench with nine and eight points, respectively.
After trading empty possessions, MSUB got ahead thanks to a basket from Carrington Wiggins and then a transition three from Damen Thacker. As Minot State couldn't quite get into its offensive rhythm, Jimmy Brown and Malik Brikat helped hold the Beavers to only one offensive rebound in the first half. Scoring was a rarity in the first half, however, as both teams trudged their way to a 10-10 tie at the under-12 timeout.
MSUB went on a 5-0 run out of the timeout thanks to a three from Wiggins and the first of Nicholas Sebastiao's eight points to put the 'Jackets up 15-10. Yet the Beavers pulled back in front with a 7-0 run before Sebastiao split a pair of free throws with 8:34 remaining in the half.
While Minot State couldn't hit its open looks, MSUB could. Jaren Fritz came off the bench and sparked the offense with a three, then Brent Finn nailed one in front of Minot State's bench, putting the 'Jackets ahead 22-17 lead with 6:09 to play. Although Minot State tied the game at 22, then took a slim two-point lead with 3:27 left, Bilal Shabazz's jumper tied things at 24. Sebastiao hit a three with 18 seconds left, then the 'Jackets locked down Minot State on the other end to preserve a 27-26 lead going into halftime.
The Beavers threatened to pull away early in the second half, but Wiggins had four quick points in the first two minutes to help the 'Jackets keep pace. Jo Jones sank a three with 16:18 left to make the score 35-34, then Ajanaku's layup made it a one-possession game with 13:27 to go, but then the 'Jacket offense stalled. The Beavers found their open shooters and stretched the defense on an 11-0 run in 2:03 to put MSUB down 50-36 with 10:52 remaining. Malik Brikat found Fritz for another three, yet Minot State scored on their next three possessions to pull ahead 58-39.
Minot State would lead by as many as 20 points in the second half. Trailing 63-43 with 6:04 left, Wiggins tried rallying the troops with nine points – including MSUB's final seven points of the night – as the 'Jackets got within 14 points but couldn't get any closer.
LAST MEETING vs. MSUB (Nov. 24, 2018)
Despite holding a six-point halftime lead, the Black Hills State University men's basketball team fell to Montana State University Billings, 90-70, on Saturday evening. Â
Makaleb McInnis led the way for the Yellow Jackets (1-3) with 18 points, while Dez Stoudamire had 15, and Fraser Malcolm added 12 points.
The Yellowjackets (3-3) jumped out to a 7-0 lead before a three-pointer by Stoudamire got BHSU on the board. The Green and Gold used a 7-0 run of their own to take a 13-10 lead with 13:47 remaining. The rest of the first half continued the theme, with each team using runs to take a small lead, but neither team was able to take control of the game. The score was tied three times in the first 20 minutes, with the lead traded back and forth three times as well.
With just under six minutes left in the period, the score was tied, 28-28. A pair of free throws by Patrick Mendes, and a trey by Stefan Desnica put the visitors up by five. After Zack Rollins made a jumper for MSUB, back-to-back three-pointers by Malcolm and Stoudamire, followed by a pair of shots at the free throw line, gave the Yellow Jackets their largest lead of the game at 11, 41-30. MSU Billings scored the final five points of the half, and BHSU entered halftime leading by six, 41-35.
With 18:28 left to play in the game, MSUB went on an 11-0 run to retake the lead, 49-45. With 11 minutes to play, the Yellowjackets began to take control of the game, eventually leading by 15 with just under five minutes remaining. Despite Connor O'Hearn scoring eight points in the final three minutes, the home team would secure the 90-70 nonconference victory.
BHSU shot 36.5 percent from the field (23-for-63), while MSUB was 54.5 percent from the floor (30-for-55). The Yellow Jackets were 14-for-34 (41.2 percent) from beyond the arc, while the Yellowjackets were 11-for-23 (47.8 percent) on three-pointers. The Green and Gold were outrebounded by MSU Billings, 41-34.
Melvin Newbern Jr. had a double-double for MSU Billings, recording 22 points and 11 rebounds. Tyler Green had 19 points.
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.
Mick Durham is also in his fourth season in his position at Montana State Billings. During his time at MSUB, he holds a record of 28-31 over his first three seasons as head coach.
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 WEDNESDAY BHSU WIN WOULD...
Give the Yellow Jackets a 3-2 start to the season and wrap up their 2021-22 non-conference slate with a win. BHSU started last season 3-2 in its conference only schedule. They last went 3-2 in their non-conference schedule in 2017-18.
A WEDNESDAY BHSU LOSS WOULD...
Give the Yellow Jackets a 2-3 start to the season and send BHSU into their RMAC schedule, starting on Dec. 3 against Western Colorado in Spearfish.
DOUBLE-DOUBLES
Joel Scott has opened the 2021-22 campaign with double-doubles in three of the first four games of the season. He's the first Yellow Jacket to accomplish that feat in the Division II era, and the first to have a double-double in the first game of the season since Fraser Malcolm in 2017-18 season.
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-
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