Black Hills State men's basketball will take on rivals Chadron State and South Dakota Mines in a pair of weekday games this week at the Donald E. Young Center.
The Yellow Jackets will host CSC on Tuesday, Jan. 18 at 5:30 p.m., and then SDM on Thursday, Jan. 20 at 5:30 p.m.
The Yellow Jackets are 8-1 in the RMAC this season and 10-4 overall after most recently defeating Western Colorado, 98-92 in Gunnison, Colo. on Friday, Jan. 14. Next up for second-place BHSU is a pair of home games as they host Chadron State on Tuesday, Jan. 18 and South Dakota Mines on Thursday, Jan. 20, each tipping off at 5:30 p.m.
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TUESDAY vs. CHADRON STATE
The 12th-place Eagles sit middle of the pack offensively in the conference, but have shot well from deep this season with the third-highest 3-point percentage in the RMAC at 36.7 percent. They also give themselves second chances off the glass as they average 9.7 offensive boards per game, good for fourth in the RMAC. Additionally, CSC gives up very few turnovers despite moving the ball a lot, dishing out the second-most assists in the league (277).
EAGLES' LAST TIME OUT
Chadron State College guard KJ Harris led five Eagle scorers in double digits, as the team piled its most points on a Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference opponent in 19 years, winning 107-96 in Gunnison on Saturday night.
The last time CSC eclipsed 107 in a league game was nearly exactly 19 years ago, on January 17, 2003, when CSC went to overtime at Southern Colorado, now CSU-Pueblo, in a 110-106 road win. Individual box scores were only readily available since 2000-01, but the Eagles last scored 107 in regulation, against a league opponent, in their 1997-98 season finale at home against Colorado School of Mines.
Harris was in the flow, well past the 5:00 mark of the second half. Until a three-point miss around 4:30 remaining, the junior from McKinney, Texas, was 7-of-7 from the field, 3-of-3 from long range, and 4-for-4 from the free throw line. He finished the game with only that one miss and two additional makes from the foul line.
Just under five minutes into the game, WCU's Kade Juelfs, son of a CSC Hall of Famer, hit a three-pointer to give the Mountaineers their largest lead of the game, at 18-11.
CSC never trailed again after a Harris three at 12:49 in the first made it 20-18 Eagles. Western tied the game at 10:47, with the scoreboard reading 24-24, but it trailed the rest of the way.
After going up 58-45 to enter halftime, a three by CJ Jennings at 12:55 in the second period gave the Eagles their largest advantage at 78-62.
Elijah Davidson's dunk at 8:24 cut the Mountaineers' deficit to 81-75. Then in the double-bonus, their free throw shooting kept them in the game until their foul total caught up at about five minutes to play.
The Eagles sank 12-of-14 from the foul line, down the stretch, to finish with their fifth double-digit win of the season and improve to 7-10 overall, 3-6 in RMAC play.
LAST MATCHUP: CSC @ BHSU (Feb. 16, 2021)
Black Hills State men's basketball used a big second half to lift them to a 74-53 victory over Chadron State on Senior night.
The Yellow Jackets (7-5, 7-5 RMAC) held the Eagles to only 35.7 percent shooting from the field in the well-rounded victory.
Sindou Cisse,
Joel Scott and
Trey Whitley each totaled 15 points to lead the team. Whitley grabbed a team-best seven boards, while Cisse and Scott each grabbed six.
Adam Moussa tallied two steals and a block to go along with eight points, four rebounds and a team-leading three assists.
Kevin Senghore-Peterson totaled five rebounds, and
Tommy Donovan and
Ryder Kirsch each recorded four.
Both teams got off to a slow start as the game saw a 2-2 tie nearly five minutes into the game. The two offenses would pick up from there, but the game remained close, going back and forth in a half that saw seven ties and five lead changes.
Senghore-Peterson answered an Eagle layup with a layup of his own midway through the first to even the score at 13-all. A few minutes later, back-to-back layups from
Snjolfur Stefansson and Cisse would put BHSU ahead 24-21. The Yellow Jackets would go up by as many as six points down the stretch, and eventually take a 31-27 lead into the half.
The Yellow Jackets turned it on out of the break, outscoring the Eagles 19-2 over the opening eight minutes of the second half. That run, highlighted by threes from Cisse and Whitley, two blocked shots and three forced turnovers, put BHSU ahead 50-29 at the under-12 media break and would ultimately be the difference maker in the game.
BHSU continued to play add-on from there, extending its lead to as much as 29 on another Whitley 3-pointer to move ahead 70-41 with just over three minutes left to play. Coach Thompson cleared the bench as the final minutes expired, seeing two points each from
Taylor Edwards and
John Shanklin.
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THURSDAY vs. SOUTH DAKOTA MINES
Currently sitting 10th in the RMAC, the rival Hardrockers are currently the lowest-scoring team in the conference, averaging 65.5 points per game, yet they've allowed only 70.9 points per game (6th in RMAC). Although they don't have an overpowering offense, their defense has been able to keep the team in games.
HARDROCKERS' LAST TIME OUT
The South Dakota Mines men's basketball team couldn't find the bottom of the net and they fell to the Orediggers from Colorado School of Mines 89-56 Saturday night at the King Center.
The Orediggers jumped up to an early 9-5 lead to start the 1st half. Colorado School of Mines would increase their lead 15-7, but the Hardrockers would go on a scoring spree and tie the game up when Brevin Walter converted a layup and free throw. But from there the Orediggers would pull away outscoring the Hardrockers 26-12 the rest of the half. Colorado School of Mines would head into the locker room with a 43-29 lead.
Keagen Smith led South Dakota Mines in the first half with 8 points, while Alejandro Rama chipped in 6.
In the second half, the Orediggers never let their foot off the throttle as they continued to put the ball in the basket and led by 20 with 15 minutes left in the game. At the 10-minute mark, the Orediggers led 65-44 and they would eventually end up winning 89-56.
The Orediggers shot an impressive 61% from the field in the win. The Hardrockers were led by Kolten Mortensen with 13 points. Walter and Rama finished with 11 each.
South Dakota Mines is now 6-10 overall and 4-6 in the RMAC. They will take on Black Hills State University on Thursday night in Spearfish, S.D.
LAST MATCHUP: BHSU @ SDM (Feb. 16, 2021)
Black Hills State men's basketball fell 79-78 to South Dakota Mines in a hard-fought game at the King Center Saturday night.
The Yellow Jackets (3-3, 3-3 RMAC) shot 50 percent from the field compared to the Hardrockers' 49.1 percent but couldn't complete the comeback.
Joel Scott put together his fifth career double-double, leading the team with 26 points and 10 rebounds.
Trey Whitley went 6-of-8 from the field, scoring 18 on the night along with a team-leading four assists.
Adam Moussa tallied a pair of steals and a blocked shot while going 3-of-5 from beyond the arc, scoring 13.
Both teams traded baskets over the first five minutes of play before the Hardrockers scored nine unanswered to move ahead 18-9. Despite SD Mines shooting over 60 percent in the opening minutes, the Yellow Jackets used key threes from Scott and Moussa to keep pace.
A jumper by
Ethan Forrester at 6:10 kicked off an 8-0 scoring run as BHSU took advantage of a pair of turnovers, scoring on four straight possessions to make it a 29-25 ballgame. The Yellow Jackets wouldn't quit, and a pair of made free throws by Whitley sent the team to the locker room down 37-35.
Out of the break, SD Mines extended their lead, going ahead 51-41 on a 3-pointer with 14:44 left to play. BHSU scored seven unanswered after a
Tommy Donovan layup to pull back within two at 53-51.
The two teams continued to go back and forth before Moussa turned a steal into a 3-pointer to pull BHSU within one at 66-65 with 4:44 to go. Shortly after, a Donovan free throw would pull the Yellow Jackets even for the first time in the game at 66-all.
Moussa hit a big 3-pointer with 44 second left to play, giving BHSU its first lead of the game at 77-76. Tied 78-all, the Hardrockers made a free throw to go ahead 79-78 with four second left to seal the game.
YELLOW JACKETS' LAST TIME OUT
Black Hills State men's basketball defeated Western Colorado, 98-92 Friday night behind a handful of career performances.
The Yellow Jackets (10-4, 8-1 RMAC) scored a season-high 98 points as a team and had two double-double performances while three scored over 20.
Adam Moussa finished with a career-best 32 points and 11 rebounds as he recorded his second double-double of the season. He also had an assist and a steal.
Joel Scott tallied his 11th double-double of the season with 28 points and 12 rebounds.
Sava Dukic also scored a career-best with his 27 points, going 6-of-16 from the field and a perfect 9-of-9 at the free throw line.
PJ Hayes grabbed five boards, and
Ryder Kirsch,
Tommy Donovan and
Ryker Cisarik each grabbed four.
After an early WCU lead, a Scott dunk followed by a trey and layup from Moussa evened the score at 10-10. Back-and-forth play continued in the opening minutes of the first half which featured three ties and four lead changes.
As the first half ticked past the midway point, BHSU rattled off a 12-0 scoring run capped by seven straight from Moussa to take a double-digit lead, 26-16. Both offenses cooled off from there and the Mountaineers worked their way back, trailing only 31-30 entering the final minute of the half.
The Yellow Jackets came out firing to start the second half, outscoring WCU 14-5 to extend their lead to 49-37, but the Mountaineers didn't quit, eventually re-tying the game at 51-all using a big run of their own.
Both teams traded buckets over the next few minutes of play, tying the game four more times before BHSU outscored WCU 12-1 to take a 73-65 lead with 6:38 remaining.
The Yellow Jackets would hold the advantage 86-77 following a Scott trey as the clock ticked into the final minute before going 12-of-14 down the stretch from the charity stripe to seal the 98-92 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.
Eagles head coach Shane Paben is currently in his second season leading CSC. In his first year, he led the Eagles to their first-ever RMAC Tournament bid last season.
Eric Glenn is now in his fourth season as head coach of the SDM men's basketball team. Before being promoted to head coach, Glenn served as the program's assistant coach for the 13 years prior.
ABOUT BLACK HILLS STATE
The Yellow Jackets are off to an 8-1 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 CHADRON STATE
The 12th-place Eagles are 7-10 overall this season and 3-6 in conference play with league wins over Metro State and Colorado Mines. BHSU is 15-4 all-time against CSC, and 10-1 over their last 11 meetings.
ABOUT SOUTH DAKOTA MINES
The 10th-place Hardrockers are 6-10 overall this season and 4-6 in conference play with league wins over Adams State, Western Colorado, Fort Lewis and CSU Pueblo. BHSU is 33-27 all-time against SDM, having lost their last two matchups. However, BHSU is 6-2 over their last eight.
A TUESDAY BHSU WIN WOULD...
Improve the Yellow Jackets to a 9-1 record in the conference which would continue their best start as members of the RMAC.
A TUESDAY BHSU LOSS WOULD...
Drop the Yellow Jackets to 10-5 overall and 8-2 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 (9.31)
2nd - Double-Doubles (10)
4th - Points Per Game (24.2)
5th - Rebounds Per Game (11.3)
8th - Total FGs Made (117)
8th - Free Throw Attempts (93)
9th - Total Rebounds (147)
Additionally, Scott leads the RMAC in eight different statistical categories and is top-3 in 12 categories.
DOUBLE-DOUBLES
The BHSU men's basketball team has recorded 13 individual double-doubles in the team's 14 games played to start the 2021-22 season.
Joel Scott has tallied a BHSU DII record 11 double-doubles in 14 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 19 career double-doubles at BHSU, with a career-high 11 double-doubles this season after recording the feat four times in each his freshman and sophomore campaigns.
Adam Moussa recorded the first two double-doubles of his career this season, doing so on 11/24 at MSU Billings and again on 1/14 at Western Colorado.
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-
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