Black Hills State men's basketball will play its second weekend of RMAC play, hitting the road to take on Colorado Mesa and Westminster.

The Yellow Jackets got off to a 2-0 start to conference play last weekend with victories over Western Colorado and Fort Lewis. This weekend they face Colorado Mesa on Friday, Dec. 10 at 7:30 p.m. and Westminster on Saturday, Dec. 11 at 7 p.m.

 

BLACK HILLS STATE  at  Colorado Mesa   FRIDAY, DEC. 10 // 7:30 P.M. // GRAND JUNCTION, COLO. // BROWNSON ARENA Live Stream / Live Stats / Radio / Game Notes

BLACK HILLS STATE (4-2, 2-0 RMAC) AT COLORADO MESA (7-4, 1-1 RMAC)
The Mavericks are 7-4 this season and 1-1 in the RMAC after last weekend as they defeated Colorado Christian, 68-63 on Saturday and then fell to Metro State 73-50 on Sunday. The two teams have seen each other 16 times with BHSU going 7-9 in those games. The Yellow Jackets have won two of their last three meetings, but fell in their last matchup, 75-70 on Dec. 11, 2020.

MAVERICKS' LAST TIME OUT
The Colorado Mesa men's basketball team fell into the quite the hole in the first half, their second half efforts not enough to dig them out as they fell, 50-73 to the MSU Denver Roadrunners, Sunday afternoon at the Auraria Events Center.

Out of sorts from their usual offensive presence, the Mavericks finished 15-of-53 (28.3%) from the field. Defensively, they were outrebounded 49-28, however they converted 12 points off of their 12 steals.

Owen Koonce finished with a team high 11-points, Georgie Dancer and Trevor Baskin following up with eight, Dancer dishing out three assists.

Blaise Threatt collected four steals and five rebounds to lead the team's defensive efforts.

The Mavericks found themselves down early, the Roadrunners lead building throughout the first half. Despite keeping the scoring close in the second period, 33-35 behind mini scoring runs, the deficit was too much to overcome as MSU Denver ran away with the win.

The Roadrunners were led by Tyrei Randall who finished with 31-points. Laolu Oke garnering a double-double behind 10-points and 17-rebounds.

 

BLACK HILLS STATE  at  Westminster   SATURDAY, DEC. 11 // 7 P.M. // SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH // BROWNSON ARENA Live Stream / Live Stats / Radio / Game Notes

BLACK HILLS STATE (4-2, 2-0 RMAC) AT WESTMINSTER (4-4, 2-0 RMAC)
The Griffins are 4-4 overall and 2-0 in conference play so far this year, earning wins over Metro State (81-66) and Colorado Christian (66-63) last weekend. BHSU is 4-3 against Westminster over the seven games played between the two, having won two of their last three matchups, including their game last year as they won 75-70 on Dec. 12, 2020.

GRIFFINS' LAST TIME OUT
Yusuf Mohamed had 19 points and 10 rebounds while Brayden Johnson also had a double-double with 22 points and 10 boards as Westminster men's basketball (4-4, 2-0 RMAC) defeated Colorado Christian (3-5, 0-2 RMAC), 66-63, on Sunday afternoon at the CCU Event Center.

Johnson's season-high 22 points came on 8-of-14 shooting while Mohamed finished 9-of-9 at the free throw line including two clutch shots down the stretch to put Westminster ahead in a back-and-forth final two minutes.

Westminster led by as many as nine after hitting eight of their first 11 shots from the field out of the break. Colorado Christian was able to get back in the game with the help of three second-half three-pointers and regained the lead with two minutes to play. Mohamed went to the free throw line with the Griffins down 61-60 and connected on both to put Westminster on top, 62-61.

The Cougars responded with a jumper on the opposite end to put the pressure back on Westminster. On the ensuing possession, Mohamed carried the ball into the midrange where he drilled a pull-up jumper to give the Griffins a 64-63 advantage with less than 30 seconds to play.

After a Griffins' stop on the defensive end followed by a pair of Brayden Johnson free throws, Westminster made one final stop to ice away its third straight win over Colorado Christian. Westminster has now won five out of its last six games against CCU and is now 4-2 all-time in Lakewood.

The Griffins finished with a 38-27 rebounding advantage including a 13-5 edge on the offensive glass. Westminster hit seven three-pointers as a team on the night and shot 11-of-23 (48 percent) from the field as a team in the second half.

Westminster will now get set to host its first conference games of the season next week as it takes on Chadron State and Colorado Christian on Friday and Saturday, respectively.

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.

Mavericks Head Coach Mike DeGeorge is entering his fourth season at CMU, holding a record of 68-26 over that time.

Norm Parrish is in his seventh season leading Westminster men's basketball after taking over in August of 2015.

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 FRIDAY BHSU WIN WOULD...
Move the Yellow Jackets to 5-3 overall on the season and get the men off to a 3-0 start in RMAC play for the first time since the 2018-19 season when they finished 18-11 (15-7 RMAC) and advanced to their lone RMAC Tournament Championship in their nine seasons in the RMAC.

A FRIDAY BHSU LOSS WOULD...
Give the Yellow Jackets a 4-4 start to the season and a 2-1 start in the conference.

HISTORY ON DECEMBER 3
Anyone who watched the Friday, Dec. 3 game against Western Colorado was witness to a historical night.

Joel Scott had an historic game himself, 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 six individual double-doubles in the team's seven games played to start the 2021-22 season.

Joel Scott has opened the 2021-22 campaign with double-doubles in five of the first seven games of the 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 13 career double-doubles at BHSU, with a career-high five 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.