Black Hills State men's basketball will hit the road this weekend to take on Colorado Christian on Friday and Metro State Saturday.
The Yellow Jackets will tip off with CCU on Friday, Jan. 28 at 7 p.m., and then MSUD on Saturday, Jan. 29 at 6 p.m.
The Yellow Jackets are 10-1 in the RMAC this season and 12-4 overall after most recently defeating Chadron State and rival South Dakota Mines on Jan. 18 and 20, respectively. Next up for first place BHSU is a pair of road games against Colorado Christian on Friday, Jan. 28 at 7 p.m., and Metro State on Saturday, Jan. 29 at 6 p.m.
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FRIDAY at COLORADO CHRISTIAN
The 14th-place Cougars sit near the bottom of the RMAC offensively this season, but is the top 3-point shooting team in the conference, making 38.7 percent of their shots, averaging 10.3 per game. They're also the best free throw shooting team at 80.4 percent.
COUGARS' LAST TIME OUT
The Cougars headed south to take on UCCS on Saturday. Colorado Christian battled to the end, falling 84-77 to the Mountain Lions.
The Cougars showed why they lead the conference in three-pointers early and often, starting with quick shots from deep from Shaylen Woodbery and DJ McDonald. Andy Stafford joined the barrage from beyond the arc with consecutive threes. McDonald what would be a historic night for him with another trey. McDonald was unconscious from deep, adding two more threes to build a 23-10 lead for the Cougars.
The Mountain Lions could not stop the shots from the perimeter, as Stafford and McDonald drained two more from deep to stretch the lead to 16. UCCS fought back, closing the gap to eight before another McDonald three, his sixth of the first half. A late jumper from the Mountain Lions took the game to half with the Cougars leading 40-33.
Isaiah Alonzo nailed a jumper to stretch the lead to 10. Yet another McDonald three put Colorado Christian ahead 13 with fifteen minutes remaining. The Mountain Lions refused to go away, though, and they began to chip away at the lead with several three-pointers.
A McDonald jumper put the Cougars ahead 68-61 with just over six minutes remaining. Then the shots began to fall for UCCS, with several threes to take a one point lead. With 2:58 to go, the score stood tied at 71. The Mountain Lions proceeded to go on a nine point run as they took control late for the 84-77 victory.
LAST MATCHUP: BHSU @ CCU (Feb. 26, 2021)
Black Hills State men's basketball fell to Colorado Christian Friday night by the score of 87-82.
The Yellow Jackets (9-6, 9-6 RMAC) had four players score in double figures and shot 41.0 percent from the field as a team.
Trey Whitley led the team with 22 points, going a perfect 7-of-7 from the free-throw line.
Joel Scott totaled 17 points and added eight rebounds and six assists.
Sindou Cisse and
Adam Moussa each scored 15 and tallied a block. Moussa grabbed four boards and a steal while Cisse added four assists and three rebounds.
CCU started out hot beyond the arc, making 8-of-8 from three to open the game, and used its first five straight to go ahead 15-5 over the first four minutes of play. BHSU kept the game within striking distance in the first half behind Whitley's 16 points, while also taking advantage of free throws, going 15-of-19.
The Cougars would lead by as much as 11 points, 35-24, with under eight minutes to go in the first. From there, the Yellow Jackets used four free throws and a pair of layups to pull within five. A three by Whitley in the final seconds of the first half sent BHSU into halftime trailing 43-37.
BHSU scored a quick four out of the break to pull within one, but CCU extended its lead back to 10 to make the score 60-50 midway through the second half. After that, the Yellow Jackets climbed their way back using five points from Cisse, and pulled back to within one on a Scott free throw at 67-66.
Tommy Donovan gave BHSU its first lead of the game at 68-67 with a layup at 6:15 before back-and-forth play commenced down the stretch. BHSU would re-take the lead on a Whitley layup at 2:47, but couldn't hang on, eventually falling 87-82.
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SATURDAY at METRO STATE
Currently sitting 4th in the RMAC, the rival Roadrunners are currently one of the top defensive teams in the league, averaging only 67.9 points against per game, good for third in the conference. They're also the second-best rebounding team in the RMAC, averaging 37.9 per game, and 10.1 offensive rebounds per game, offering second-chance point opportunities.
ROADRUNNERS' LAST TIME OUT
MSU Denver used a 13-0 run late in the second half to take the lead, then got a dunk from Laolu Oke with 1:18 left to go ahead for good in a clutch 78-73 win Saturday night at New Mexico Highlands.
The Roadrunners had trailed 61-47 with 12:27 to play before going on a game-ending 31-12 burst.
It was still 64-55 with 7:08 left before the Roadrunners scored the next 13 points. Tyrei Randall's four-point play got MSU Denver within 64-63, then freshman guard Keiren Brown scored the next five – on a conventional three-point play for the lead at 66-64 and then on a jumper with 3:34 to go.
Back-to-back baskets by Highlands' Sammy Barnes-Thompkins eventually tied the game 70-70 with 1:42 left, but then Oke's dunk put the Roadrunners ahead.
Barnes-Thompkins missed a 3 and MSU Denver missed a pair of 3s on the other end, but Barnes-Thompkins couldn't convert on a drive and Oke grabbed his 14th rebound and was fouled with 11 seconds to go.
Oke made both free throws for a 74-70 lead, but Barnes-Thompkins was fouled on a 3-pointer and made all three of his free throws to get the Cowboys back within 74-73 with 5.7 seconds left. Highlands fouled Miles Gibson before the ball was passed inbounds, and Gibson made both free throws to give the Roadrunners a 76-73 lead.
With a chance to tie, Highlands' inbounds pass was instead stolen by Keyshaad Dixon, and Dixon fed Maris Colton for a game-clinching layup.
Oke had another monster game with 22 points, 14 rebounds, three assists and two blocked shots. He made 8 of 9 from the field and all six of his free throws.
Ra'Shawn Langston added 20 points, while Brown matched his career high of 10 and Randall also scored 10. Gibson had eight points and seven rebounds.
New Mexico Highlands led for 79.7 percent of the game. But after shooting 51.6 percent from the field in the first half, the Cowboys were limited to 38.2 percent in the second half – including 18.8 percent (3 of 16) from 3.
LAST MATCHUP: BHSU @ MSUD (Feb. 27, 2021)
Black Hills State men's basketball earned an 85-73 victory over Metro State Saturday night in its final game before the RMAC Tournament.
Adam Moussa led the scoring, going 7-of-13 overall and 5-of-9 from deep to total 23 points along with nine rebounds, two steals and two assists.
Joel Scott added 19 points, making seven of his eight attempts from the field, also tallying nine rebounds to go with five assists and a block.
Sindou Cisse scored 16 points with three assist, and
Ryder Kirsch scored 10.
Kevin Senghore-Peterson totaled six rebounds, two blocks and an assist.
Both teams got off to a slow start before BHSU ahead 7-5 on a Scott 3-pointer at 14:44 in the first. The Yellow Jackets and Roadrunners would lock themselves into a tie three times before Scott put BHSU back ahead, this time 21-20 midway through the half.
Threes by Moussa and Kirsch extended the Yellow Jacket lead to 29-24 before another Moussa three capped an 11-2 scoring run, putting BHSU up 32-24 nearing the four-minute mark. Cisse, Scott and Moussa each sank another bucket before the first half came to a close, taking a 39-32 lead into the break.
Back-and-forth play continued out of the half until a
Trey Whitley three gave BHSU its first 10-point lead, going ahead 54-44 at 13:44. Metro State would stay in striking distance, though, getting back to within one (59-58) midway through the second.
Back-to-back layups from Cisse gave the Yellow Jackets some breathing room before a
Tommy Donovan jumper extended the lead to 77-66 with four minutes to go. BHSU would hold its lead the rest of the way, going a perfect 8-of-8 from the charity stripe down the stretch to seal the victory.
YELLOW JACKETS' LAST TIME OUT
Black Hills State men's basketball outdueled its rival South Dakota Mines Thursday night, defeating the Hardrockers, 86-65.
The Yellow Jackets (12-4, 10-1 RMAC) never trailed in the game, shooting 16-of 37 from deep and winning the turnover battle 17-7.
PJ Hayes led all scorers with 26 points on the night, going 8-of-10 from deep.
Adam Moussa was all over the court, scoring 17 while grabbing six boards and dishing out six assists.
Joel Scott had himself another double-double performance with his 15 points and 10 rebounds along with three assists and a steal.
Sindou Cisse and
Ryder Kirsch also scored in double-figures, scoring 11 and 10, respectively.
The Yellow Jackets started hot out of the gate, scoring 11 unanswered to open the game, capped by a Scott dunk and a Cisse three. A few minutes later, back-to-back 3-pointers by Hayes extended BHSU's lead to 19-8 at 13:32 in the first.
Teams would trade points through the midway mark of the first until threes from Hayes and Moussa gave the Yellow Jackets their largest lead of the half, going up 37-25 with under five minutes to go before eventually going into halftime with a 39-29 advantage.
BHSU continued to have the hot hand out of the locker room, outscoring SDSMT 9-5 and extending the lead to 48-34. At 9:36, a Hayes triple gave the team their first 20-point lead of the game (66-46) and would go on to lead by as much as 28 (81-53) with 3:19 remaining on Hayes' eighth trey of the night.
Both teams cleared their benches down the stretch as
Taylor Edwards sank a layup in the final seconds and BHSU went on to win 86-65.
Game Notes
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PJ Hayes' eight 3-pointers ranks second all-time in BHSU for threes in a game
- As a team, their 16 made 3-pointers ranks tied for third all-time
- Additionally, their 37 attempts from deep ranks tied for second all-time
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Joel Scott's double-double gives him 12 on the season, and 20 for his career
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.
Cougars head coach Liam Simmons is in his second season leading the CCU men's basketball program, previously working with the Philadelphia 76ers, as well as California Riverside and Southwest Baptist.
Michael Bahl is now in his fifth season leading the Roadrunners, and was previously an assistant coach in the program, and a standout student-athlete at Metro State before that.
ABOUT BLACK HILLS STATE
The Yellow Jackets are off to a 10-1 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, as well as rivals Chadron State and South Dakota Mines.
ABOUT COLORADO CHRISTIAN
The 14th-place Cougars are 5-12 overall this season and 2-9 in conference play with league wins over South Dakota Mines and New Mexico Highlands. BHSU is 5-10 all-time against CCU, but have won two of their last three meetings.
ABOUT METRO STATE
The fourth-place Roadrunners are 13-4 overall this season and 7-4 in conference play with league losses to Westminster, Western Colorado and UCCS. BHSU is 4-16 all-time against MSUD, but have won three of their last four meetings.
A TUESDAY BHSU WIN WOULD...
Improve the Yellow Jackets to a 11-1 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 12-5 overall and 10-2 in the conference.
JOEL SCOTT SUPERLATIVES
Now in his junior season, Scott currently leads the nation in defensive rebounding, averaging 9.06 per game, and ranks top-10 in six statistical categories.
1st - Defensive Rebounds Per Game (9.06)
2nd - Double-Doubles (12)
6th - Points Per Game (23.8)
8th - Rebounds Per Game (11.1)
9th - Total FGs Made (144)
9th - Total Rebounds (178)
Additionally, Scott leads the RMAC in seven different statistical categories and is top-3 in 11 categories.
DOUBLE-DOUBLES
The BHSU men's basketball team has recorded 14 individual double-doubles in the team's 16 games played to start the 2021-22 season.
Joel Scott has tallied a BHSU DII record 12 double-doubles in 16 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 20 career double-doubles at BHSU, with a career-high 12 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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