Black Hills State men's basketball travels to Denver to take on No. 20 Regis and Colorado Mines over New Years.

This weekend, BHSU will go up against one of the top teams in the nation in No. 20 Regis on Friday, Dec. 31 at 4 p.m., before taking on Colorado Mines and their stingy defense on Saturday, Jan. 1 at 4 p.m.

The Yellow Jackets are 6-0 in the RMAC this season and 8-3 overall after defeating both New Mexico Highlands and UC Colorado Springs in the team's last weekend of play on Dec. 18 and 19.

BHSU is in the middle of a tough 8-game stretch in their schedule as the next three games come against teams who hold a combined winning percentage of .686 so far this season.

This weekend, BHSU is up against No. 20 Regis in a meeting between the top two teams in the RMAC on Friday, and then a difficult Colorado Mines squad on Saturday. For those looking to travel to Saturday's game against Colorado Mines in Golden, Colo., masks are REQUIRED for everyone in attendance.

 

BLACK HILLS STATE  at  Regis   FRIDAY, DEC. 31 // 4 P.M. // DENVER, COLO. // REGIS FIELD HOUSE Live Stream / Live Stats / Radio / Game Notes

BLACK HILLS STATE (8-3, 6-0 RMAC) AT REGIS (10-1, 5-0 RMAC)
The Rangers are 5-0 to open conference play (10-1 overall) and are currently tied with BHSU atop the RMAC standings. They are currently riding a 10-game winning streak thanks to elite turnover numbers this year.

Their 4.64 turnover margin leads the RMAC and ranks 16th in the nation, while their 9.91 steals per game ranks 20th in NCAA DII. Beyond that, they're the fourth-best scoring (82.9 ppg) and seventh-best shooting team (47.7%) in the RMAC.

TICKETS
For BHSU fans looking to attend Friday's game, masks are required indoors for everyone in attendance. Please visit RegisRangers.com for further ticketing information.

RANGERS' LAST TIME OUT
The Regis University men's basketball team (10-1,5-0 RMAC) are currently on their longest win streak since the 2017-18 season. Tonight, the team continued their dominance versus the Western Colorado Mountaineers (3-9,2-4 RMAC), Saturday night at the Paul Wright Gymnasium in Gunnison.

How it Happened: Regis' first half prowess allowed them to lead by as much as 11 points with just under a minute to go. Junior guard Will Cranston-Lown drained a layup on the fast break and graduate student guard Brian Dawson made a jumper to make the score 48-38 as the teams headed to the locker room.

Regis' stifling second half defense held WCU to a shooting percentage of only 25% from the field and just 8% from behind the arc. Regis didn't slow down on the offensive side of the floor as they finished the half on a 37-22 run, bringing home the 85-60 road dub.

Game Notes: RU had a season-high four blocks in the win. The team shot 56 percent from the field and 61 percent from the charity stripe. Regis won the turnover margin 15-8.

Dawson (11-20 FG, 1-6 3-PT) dropped 27 points and led the team in rebounds with six.

Cranston-Lown (4-10 FG, 2-5 3-PT) brought home 13 points and had four assists and four boards.

Graduate student guard Ilisia Washington (5-8 FG, 1-1 3-PT) scored 12 points and had four rebounds.

Junior guard Aaron Bokol (3-3 FG) had eight points and four rebounds.

Junior forward Alex Cartwright (2-5 FG, 0-1 3-PT) had five boards and five points.

 

BLACK HILLS STATE  at  Colorado Mines   SATURDAY, JAN. 1 // 4 P.M. // GOLDEN, COLO. // LOCKRIDGE ARENA Live Stream / Live Stats / Radio / Game Notes

BLACK HILLS STATE (8-3, 6-0 RMAC) AT COLORADO MINES (4-5, 2-3 RMAC)
The Orediggers have consistently been one of the top teams in the RMAC over the last two decades but are off to a relatively slow start so far this season.

Although they are sitting 10th in the conference with what has been an average offense, they still boast a very strong defense, allowing only 66.2 points per game which is good for third in the conference and 49th in the nation.

TICKETS
For BHSU fans looking to attend Saturday's game, masks are required indoors for everyone in attendance. Please visit MinesAthletics.com for further ticketing information.

OREDIGGERS' LAST TIME OUT
A late comeback by Fort Lewis gave them an 86-78 win over Colorado School of Mines in Durango on Saturday.

The Orediggers (4-5, 2-3 RMAC) led much of the game before a late Skyhawk (8-4, 4-2 RMAC) run gave them the lead in the late minutes of the second half.

Ben Boone's career-high 24 points paced Mines offensively as Kobi Betts added 14 points and six assists, Justin Engesser splashed 12 points all from beyond the arc, and Adam Krasovec had 12 points and five rebounds in 27 foul-limited minutes.

Riley Farris led Fort Lewis with a game-high 26 points, and Brenden Boatwright's 22-point, 11-rebound double-double off the bench included a 10-of-12 night at the foul line. Both teams shot 53 percent for the game, but the Skyhawks had a huge advantage at the line going 17-of-20 to Mines' 4-of-9.

Mines led by as much as eight in the first half after consecutive Boone baskets inside of two minutes to go, but Fort Lewis' Logan Hokanson ended the half with two straight three-pointers to make it a 43-41 Oredigger edge after a high-scoring 20 minutes.

Mines stayed ahead for much of the second half until a 7-1 Fort Lewis run under the 10-minute mark gave them the lead on Jacquess Hobbs' three-pointer with eight to go. Baskets by Boatwright and Dunnell Stafford put them up 70-66 a minute later, and the Orediggers would not lead again as the Skyhawks held them at bay.

Mines was as close as three with 1:43 left after Boone made a pair of free throws, but Farris' three-pointer re-established a six-point lead and Boone's quick layup at the other end was met by a Stafford jumper with 33 seconds to go. A steal by Hobbs led to Farris' fastbreak bucket to end the game.

COACHES
Head coach Ryan Thompson enters his fourth season leading the Yellow Jackets. 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.

Rangers' Head Coach Brady Bergeson is entering his seventh season at the helm and has led Regis to the RMAC Tournament four of the last five seasons.

Pryor Orser is in his 21st season as Head Coach of the Orediggers, holding 11 NCAA tournament berths, and eight-straight appearances, under his belt.

ABOUT BLACK HILLS STATE
The Yellow Jackets are off to a 6-0 start to the conference schedule, which is a program-best since they joined the RMAC before the 2012-13 season. So far this season, BHSU has collected RMAC wins over Western Colorado, Fort Lewis, Colorado Mesa, Westminster, New Mexico Highlands and UC Colorado Springs.

ABOUT NO. 20 REGIS
The No. 20 Rangers are 10-1 this season and 5-0 in the RMAC, coming off wins over Fort Lewis and Western Colorado on Dec. 17 and 18. This will be the 17th meeting between BHSU and Regis with the Yellow Jackets holding a 9-7 record against them all-time, and having won each of their last two matchups over the Rangers.

ABOUT COLORADO MINES
The Orediggers are 4-5 overall this season and 2-3 in conference play after losing to Western Colorado and Fort Lewis last weekend. BHSU is 3-14 all-time against CSM having lost the last three meetings, and two of their last five. Despite having a slow start to the season, the Orediggers will be hungry coming off their pair of losses.

A SATURDAY BHSU WIN WOULD...
Improve the Yellow Jackets to a 7-0 record in the conference which would be their best start since the 2018-19 season when they started 6-0 and finished 18-11 (15-7 RMAC) to advance to their lone RMAC Tournament Championship in their nine seasons in the RMAC.

A win over No. 20 Regis would also give BHSU its first win over a ranked opponent since Nov. 10, 2019 when the team beat No. 24 Tarleton State, 78-75.

A SATURDAY BHSU LOSS WOULD...
Give the Yellow Jackets their first loss in RMAC play to put the team's record at 8-4 overall and 6-1 in the conference.

HISTORY ON DECEMBER 3
Anyone who watched the Friday, Dec. 3 game against Western Colorado was saw something special.

Joel Scott had an historic game, breaking the school record for points in a game as he finished with 50 on the night, surpassing the previous record of 46 points set by Jeff Stevens in 1996. Coincidentally enough, Scott's record-tying 46th point of the night also put him past the 1,000-point threshold for his career.

As if that wasn't enough for one night, Scott wasn't even the game's leading scorer as Western Colorado's Matthew Ragsdale broke their school record with 53 points of his own. And to tie it all together, he and Joel Scott were both teammates at the same high school, Lewis-Palmer H.S. in Monument, Colo.

DOUBLE-DOUBLES
The BHSU men's basketball team has recorded nine individual double-doubles in the team's eleven games played to start the 2021-22 season.

Joel Scott has tallied eight double-doubles in eleven games this season. He's the first Yellow Jacket to accomplish that feat in the Division II era, and was the first to have a double-double in the first game of the season since Fraser Malcolm in 2017-18 season.

Scott has tallied 16 career double-doubles at BHSU, with a career-high eight double-doubles this season after recording the feat four times in each his freshman and sophomore campaigns.

Adam Moussa also recorded a double-double for the first time in his career on 11/24 at MSU Billings.