Black Hills State men's basketball is ready to tip-off its 2022-23 season this weekend at the Lone Star/Rocky Mountain Challenge.
The men will be taking on Arkansas Fort Smith of Friday, Nov. 11 at 4:30 p.m. MT, and Oklahoma Christian on Saturday, Nov. 12 at 3 p.m. MT.
After an historic 2021-22 season that ended in the NCAA Final Four, the Yellow Jackets enter this season with national recognition. BHSU was picked to finish first in the RMAC, and currently ranks No. 1 in the South Central Region and No. 10 in the nation on the NABC Coaches Poll entering the season. The D2SIDA Poll ended last season (4/1) with the Yellow Jackets ranked No. 5 in the nation.
FRIDAY at ARKANSAS FORT SMITH
The Lions are coming off a 14-13 finish last year, and an 8-6 record in the Lone Star Conference. UAFS made the LSC Tournament in 2021-22 and their season ended in the first round, losing to St. Edwards 68-59.
BHSU and UAFS met to open the season last year in a game that was won 77-62 by the Yellow Jackets. The two teams have met twice and are 1-1 against each other all-time.
LIONS' LAST TIME OUT
University of Arkansas - Fort Smith Men's Basketball was unable to overcome a hot start by St. Edward's Tuesday, as the ninth-seeded Hilltoppers bested the eighth-seeded Lions, 68-59, at Gayle Kaundart Arena at the Stubblefield Center in the opening round of the Lone Star Conference Tournament.
The Hilltoppers hit eight of their first 10 shots as they raced out a 23-6 advantage at the 12:17 mark. UAFS briefly got the deficit to single digits on a three by guard Drew Miller with 1:43 left before the Hilltoppers took a 35-25 lead into halftime.
After an even first three minutes of the second half, the Lions started a comeback, hitting three triples to go on a 9-1 run to pull within 43-39 with more than 14 minutes remaining.
Out of the timeout, however, St. Edward's held the Lions scoreless for the next four minutes as it went on an 8-0 run to lead by 12.
For every UAFS basket, the Hilltoppers had an answer, as the Lions couldn't get the deficit lower than eight. A three by guard Matthew Wilson cut the lead to seven with 20 seconds left, but the Hilltoppers sealed the game at the free throw line.
The Lions held the Hilltoppers to 37.0 percent shooting in the second half after they shot 55.2 percent in the first half, but St. Edward's pulled down 11 total offensive rebounds and won the battle on the boards, 35-27. SEU would shoot 46.4 percent for the game while UAFS shot45.7 percent.
Forward Chris Rollins led the Lions offensively with 18 points and five rebounds, while Wilson and Miller each totaled 14 points and made four threes apiece. Wilson dished out four assists, as well.
Guard Courtney Murrell totaled eight points, seven rebounds and five assists.
St. Edward's dominated in the paint, outscoring the Lions, 42-14. It also had an 18-14 edge in points off turnovers.
UAFS ends its season 14-13, 8-6 LSC.
LAST MATCHUP: BHSU vs. UAFS (Nov. 13, 2021)
Black Hills State men's basketball won its season opener over Arkansas-Fort Smith, 77-62 Saturday night.
The Yellow Jackets (1-0, 0-0 RMAC) win their first season opener since the 2017-18 season behind a 53.6 shooting percentage as a team and 14 points off of turnovers.
Joel Scott tallied a double-double with 15 points and 11 rebounds, along with three assists, two steals and two blocks.
Adam Moussa led the team in scoring with 19 points while going 4-of-10 from beyond the arc.
Ryder Kirsch finished 7-of-9 from the field, totaling 15 points and three rebounds.
Both teams went back and forth to open the game which featured 13 lead changes and six ties in the first half. With just under four minutes to go in the first, a Lions three pulled them within one (30-29) but that would be the closest they would come the rest of the way.
The Yellow Jackets followed that with a 9-0 scoring run thanks to a Kirsch layup and a 3-pointer from Moussa to make it a 39-29 game in the closing minutes of the period. They would take that momentum into halftime with a 41-33 lead.
BHSU didn't slow down out of the break as they continued to hold a steady lead, and back-to-back layups from
Sava Dukic and
Ryker Cisarik put the Yellow Jackets ahead 50-37 midway through the second.
UASF would seem to have an answer every time BHSU tried to pull away, though, getting back to within six points (54-48) with 8:57 to play.
However, the Yellow Jackets followed that up with five straight scoring possessions to extend their lead to 65-51, regaining some breathing room before big threes from Moussa and Scott down the stretch would help seal the 77-62 victory.
SATURDAY at OKLAHOMA CHRISTIAN
The OCU Eagles struggled last season with an 8-18 finish to the season and a 4-11 record in the LSC. BHSU and OCU played each other for the first time last season in a game that went into overtime, but the Yellow Jackets came out ahead with a 76-73 victory.
EAGLES' LAST TIME OUT
The Eagles made their season debut in the Nest in front of a packed Homecoming crowd and earned an exhibition win against Sterling College.
OC switched up the tone of their defense and showed off a man-to-man defense that had ten steals which led to 18 fast break points. The defensive effort held Sterling to just 24.6 percent from the floor on the night.
Oklahoma Christian had three players in double figures, led by Antonio Gordon, a transfer from Southeastern Louisiana, with 20 points in his debut. Gordon also had 6 rebounds, 4 steals, and 3 blocks, including a pin-block that electrified the crowd.
Drew Tennial, the Eagles leading returning scorer, had 17 points on 7/8 shooting to go with 4 rebounds. And Moun'Tae Edmundson, the junior point guard, filled the stat sheet with 10 points, 6 rebounds, and 5 assists.
The Eagles will return to the Nest next week for a two-day event where they will take on Black Hills State, who reached the final four last season, and Metro State. OC will take on Metro State t 7:30 p.m. on Friday to kick off their portion of the event.
LAST MATCHUP: BHSU vs. OCU (Nov. 14, 2021)
Black Hills State men's basketball took down Oklahoma Christian, 76-73 in overtime Sunday night to close the Metro State Conference Challenge.
The Yellow Jackets (2-0, 0-0 RMAC) have won each of their first two games and are off to their best start to a season since the 2017-18 season when they opened the season 3-0.
Joel Scott registered his second double-double of the season with 29 points and 17 rebounds. His 17 rebounds ties him for sixth all time at BHSU for most rebounds in a game.
Sindou Cisse was only two rebounds shy of his own double-double, recording eight rebounds and 19 points.
Adam Moussa and
Ryder Kirsch each tallied six rebounds, and
John Shanklin finished with 11 points.
The Eagles got out to a quick 9-2 lead early in the game, but the Yellow Jackets bounced right back by going on an 11-3 scoring run, capped by a Cisse layup, to put BHSU ahead 13-12 midway through the first half.
Both teams traded possessions over the next few minutes of play until a Shanklin dunk and a jumper from Scott extended the Yellow Jacket lead to 32-25, and eventually took a 35-29 lead into halftime.
Out of the break, OCU pulled back to within one, but BHSU would keep the lead thanks to a trio of Scott layups. A few minutes later, the Yellow Jackets took their lead into double digits as a Shanklin layup at 10:48 made it a 51-40 ballgame.
OCU wouldn't quit, however, pulling back to within one point again with about three minutes left to go. BHSU continued to hold onto a lead until a pair of Eagle free throws evened the score at 62-62 with 1:02 remaining.
BHSU regained the lead on the next possession with a Cisse jumper to make it 64-62 with 27 seconds left, but OCU answered yet again to even the score in the closing seconds of regulation to send the game into overtime at 64-all.
In overtime, the Eagles struck first to take their first lead since early in the first half. BHSU wouldn't trail long, though, using a Scott dunk and a 3-pointer from
Sava Dukic to go ahead 72-69 with 2:42 left on the clock.
Holding on to a one-point, 74-73 lead with 23 seconds left on the clock, Moussa was fouled and made both free throw attempts to close the game and seal the 76-73 victory.
YELLOW JACKETS' LAST TIME OUT
Black Hills State men's basketball fell to No. 5 seeded Northwest Missouri State, 70-57 Thursday night.
The Yellow Jackets (26-8, 17-4 RMAC) grabbed 35 rebounds as a team and shot at a 39.7 percent clip.
Joel Scott led all scorers with 19 points to go with nine rebounds and a steal.
Sindou Cisse played stout defense, holding 2-time NABC Player of the Year Trevor Hudgins to only 11 points. Cisse totaled nine points and five rebounds.
Adam Moussa scored 13 points on a trio of threes while grabbing five boards.
Both teams started slow with neither scoring over the first four minutes of play until a NMSU layup followed by a Moussa three opened the scoring and put BHSU up early, 3-2.
The Bearcats and Yellow Jackets traded buckets from there, before a Scott layup and Donovan three gave BHSU a 12-8 lead at 13:12. Later, a Hayes 3-point play and Scott layup extended the BHSU lead to 17-12.
NMSU would then go on a quick 7-0 spurt, though, to re-gain the lead 19-17 as the clock ticked under seven minutes to play. Layups from Donovan and Scott along with a trio of Cisse layups down the stretch kept the Yellow Jackets within 10 entering halftime as BHSU trailed 36-26.
Out of the break, back-to-back jumpers from Moussa helped cut into the Bearcat lead, making it 38-31. Then four straight makes between Scott and Cisse pulled BHSU within four, 43-39, with 12:54 to play.
But the Bearcats offense turned it on after that, using a 17-2 run would follow to stretch their lead to 19, 60-41 with 7:29 remaining.
BHSU kept pace with NMSU in the final minutes with a Scott layup and threes from Moussa and Hayes, but would eventually fall, 70-57.
COACHES
Head coach
Ryan Thompson is entering his fifth season leading the Yellow Jackets, having taken the program to its first NCAA tournament in the 2021-22 season, and the RMAC tournament each of the last four years. He was named RMAC Coach of the Year following each the 2019-20, and 2021-23 seasons.
Lions Head coach Jim Boone has a career coaching record of 590-453 as he enters his fifth season at the helm at UAFS and 38th season overall.
The OCU Eagles are coached by Kendre Talley, a former standout with the program, who is entering his fourth season leading the team. He has been on the coaching staff since the 2015-16 season after playing professionally for BBG Herford in Germany for a season.
A FRIDAY BHSU WIN WOULD...
Give the Yellow Jackets a 1-0 start to the season for the second year in a row, and give the program it's 150th win since it has been a NCAA DII member.
A FRIDAY BHSU LOSS WOULD...
Mean the Yellow Jackets start the season 0-1 for the first time since the shortened 2020-21 season when the team lost its first game to No. 22 Colorado Mesa.
KEY RETURNERS
BHSU returns all of its starters from last season, and nearly all of its key contributors, including
Ryker Cisarik,
Sindou Cisse,
Sava Dukic,
Adam Moussa,
Tommy Donovan,
John Shanklin,
PJ Hayes, and RMAC Player of the Year,
Joel Scott.
DYNAMIC DUO
The Yellow Jackets added transfer Matthew Ragsdale to the 2022-23 squad who has spent all three seasons of his career at Western Colorado, where he totaled 1,309 points over 73 games and 2,185 minutes played. Last year Ragsdale finished second in the RMAC in scoring with 601 total points and 21.5 per game, behind only
Joel Scott.
Ragsdale rejoins his former high school teammate, Scott, who both together played at Lewis-Palmer High School in Colorado where in their senior season they went an undefeated 28-0 to win the Colorado 4A State Championship.
This year, they are both in their senior year of eligibility and have the chance to combine for the most total points in a season by a pair of NCAA teammates who also played on the same high school team. Currently, the highest combined total is 1,047 points, accumulated by Dick (535 points) and Tom Van Arsdale (512) in the 1963-64 season at Indiana. The twins played high school basketball together at Emmerich Manual High School in Indianapolis, Ind.
Current 2022-23 Ragsdale/Scott Point Total:
0
-BHSUAthletics.com-
