Black Hills State men's basketball travels south to take on Western Colorado on Friday, Jan. 14 at 5:30 p.m. in Gunnison, Colo.
The Yellow Jackets are 7-1 in the RMAC this season and 9-4 overall after being dealt their first conference loss last weekend by Colorado Mesa, 81-71. Next up for second-place BHSU is Western Colorado on Friday, Jan. 14 at 5:30 p.m.
The last time these two teams faced was Dec. 3, 2021 when
Joel Scott broke the BHSU record for points in a game, finishing with 50 on the night and 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.
Currently sitting 12th in the RMAC, the Mountaineers offense sits middle of the pack in the conference, but their 81.5 points allowed per game ranks last in the RMAC. WCU also ranks last in the conference in shooting percentage (42.9) and opponent shooting percentage (49.0). They do, however, average 8.9 offensive rebounds per game and can capitalize on second-chance points.
YELLOW JACKETS' LAST TIME OUT
Black Hills State men's basketball dropped its first RMAC game of the season Sunday night, falling to Colorado Mesa, 81-71.
The Yellow Jackets (9-4, 7-1 RMAC) shot 45.3 percent from the field, but couldn't get shots to fall from deep as they shot only 28.6 percent from beyond the arc.
Joel Scott led the team with 26 points and 13 rebounds, tallying his 10th double-double of the season. Scott also recorded three blocks and a steal.
Adam Moussa scored 16 while totaling four boards and five assists.
Ryder Kirsh finished with six rebounds and seven points, while
Tommy Donovan was 4-of-5 from the field, scoring nine points and grabbing three boards.
A layup and a dunk from Scott to open the game got BHSU out to an early 4-2 lead. CMU would go ahead 12-6 before a quick 7-0 spurt put the Yellow Jackets back on top, 13-12 midway through the first.
Both teams traded baskets into the final minutes in the first half, tied 27-all with 3:14 to play. From there, the Yellow Jackets rattled off a 13-6 run, capped by a resounding last-second dunk from Scott, to take a 40-33 lead into the break.
CMU scored 11 unanswered to open the second half, moving ahead 44-40 with 15:21 to play. The Yellow Jackets continued to trail, but remained within striking distance as the clock continued to tick down.
Three straight scores from Scott helped pull BHSU to within two and make it a 56-54 game with 7:34 to play, but wouldn't re-take the lead, eventually falling 81-71.
MOUNTAINEERS' LAST TIME OUT
A tale of two different halves extended Sunday's Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference men's basketball match-up into overtime, where host South Dakota School of Mines outlasted Western Colorado, 82-77.
The visiting Mountaineers took the opening half of action, 37-33, but the Hardrockers came out of the break on a 14-2 run that allowed Mines to 'win' the second half, 38-34.
How it Happened
Mines' Kolton Frugoli and Western's Matthew Ragsdale traded 3-pointers to open the overtime period. Tied again at 77-77 in the final minute of OT, the Hardrockers' Brevin Walter dropped in a short baseline jumper, was fouled on the shot, and completed the and-one opportunity to push Mines in front by three with 20 seconds to play.
Ragsdale's tying 3-point attempt from the right wing was off the mark, with the Mountaineer rebound slipping off the hands of Cole Sienknecht out of bounds to give Mines possession with 3 seconds left.
Walter was fouled on the inbounds play and dropped in both free throw attempts to put the game out of reach.
First-half action never saw the Mountaineers trailing. Jaelan McCloud rained down a pair of 3-pointers for Western's first points, and from there the Mountaineers built a lead as big as 10 points, 32-22, before taking their four-point edge into the halftime recess.
Mines' 14-2 run to start the second half turned the game around, forcing Western to play catch-up over the next 16 minutes.
The Mountaineers finally pulled back even at 60-60 behind a Will Willis 3-pointer from straight out behind the arc.
The game was tied soon after at 62, 64 and 69 before a Willis layup elevated Western to its first lead, 71-69, since the opening minute of the second half.
A Frugoli jumper with under 20 seconds in the half tied the game, pushing the Hardrockers into the extra period with a bit of momentum.
Court Notes
Ragsdale's 19 points led the Western offense, with Willis' 16 points also reaching double digits for the visitors.
With 12 rebounds, Ragsdale completed the double-double. Elijah Davidson equaled Ragsdale's efforts off the glass also coming away with 12 boards.
Mines was led by Walter's game-high 27 points. Two other Hardrockers, Alejandro Rama (19 pts.) and Kolten Mortensen (14) also scored in double figures.
Western came down with 40 rebounds total, to outdo Mines' 32 rebounds, but the Hardrockers' 12-7 edge in points off turnovers overcame the rebounding difference between the teams.
LAST MATCHUP: (Dec. 3, 2021)
Black Hills State men's basketball defeated Western Colorado, 85-80 in a shootout that saw a record-breaking performance from
Joel Scott.
Scott scored a school-record 50 points in the game, breaking the record previously held by Jeff Stevens who scored 46 in 1996.
Believe it or not, Scott wasn't the only 50+ scorer in the game, as WCU's Matthew Ragsdale scored 53 points of his own.
The Yellow Jackets (3-3, 1-0 RMAC) get out to a 1-0 record in conference play, shooting 55.2 percent from the field and winning the turnover battle 12 to six.
In addition to Scott's 50 points, he also recorded 12 rebounds for his fifth double-double of the season.
Sindou Cisse scored 14 points on the night, while
Sava Dukic and
PJ Hayes each totaled four boards.
Both teams traded baskets to open the game before 3-pointers from Cisse and
Ryder Kirsch gave the Yellow Jackets a 17-14 lead with under 14 to play. An
Adam Moussa layup gave BHSU its largest lead of the half, 19-14, but WCU kept pace.
Back-and-forth play continued from there as the game went into halftime with the Yellow Jackets down 38-35.
Scott turned on the jets in the second half, scoring 11 points over the next five minutes of play to eventually give BHSU a 51-48 lead on a breakaway dunk. Scott would score 38 of his 50 points in the second period.
From there, the Yellow Jackets would hold a narrow advantage, only leading by as much as eight points following a 7-0 scoring run midway through the second. The Mountaineers worked their way back to tie the game at 68-all, but Scott's 24 points in the final 9:44 of the game and free throws from Cisse and Moussa would seal the victory.
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.
Mountaineers head coach Bradd Schafer is currently in his eighth season leading WCU. He began there in 2014 after spending the previous eight at Black Hills State.
ABOUT BLACK HILLS STATE
The Yellow Jackets are off to a 7-1 start to the conference schedule, which is a program-best since they joined the RMAC for the 2012-13 season. So far this season, BHSU has collected RMAC wins over Western Colorado, Fort Lewis, Colorado Mesa, Westminster, New Mexico Highlands, UC Colorado Springs and Colorado Mines.
ABOUT WESTERN COLORADO
The 12th place Mountaineers are 3-10 overall this season and 2-5 in conference play with league wins over Metro State and Colorado Mines. BHSU is 11-3 all-time against WCU, including each of the last five meetings.
A FRIDAY BHSU WIN WOULD...
Improve the Yellow Jackets to a 8-1 record in the conference which would continue their best start as members of the RMAC.
A SATURDAY BHSU LOSS WOULD...
Drop the Yellow Jackets to 9-5 overall and 7-2 in the conference.
JOEL SCOTT SUPERLATIVES
Now in his junior season, Scott currently leads the nation in defensive rebounding, averaging 9.31 per game, and is the only player in NCAA DII to rank top-10 in seven statistical categories.
1st - Defensive Rebounds Per Game (9.25)
2nd - Double-Doubles (10)
4th - Points Per Game (24.2)
6th - Rebounds Per Game (11.3)
6th - Total FGs Made (117)
8th - Total Rebounds (147)
8th - Free Throw Attempts (93)
Additionally, Scott leads the RMAC in eight different statistical categories and top-3 in eleven categories.
DOUBLE-DOUBLES
The BHSU men's basketball team has recorded 11 individual double-doubles in the team's 13 games played to start the 2021-22 season.
Joel Scott has tallied a BHSU DII record 10 double-doubles in 13 games this season. He was also the first to have a double-double in the first game of the season since Fraser Malcolm in 2017-18 season.
Scott has tallied 18 career double-doubles at BHSU, with a career-high 10 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.
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.
-BHSUAthletics.com-
Â
