No. 5/6 Black Hills State men's basketball wraps up its non-conference slate this week taking on MSU Billings at home on Wednesday, Nov. 23 at 6 p.m. and then travel to South Dakota Mines on Monday, Nov. 28 at 7:30 p.m.
BHSU is currently ranked 5th in the nation in the D2SIDA Media Poll and 6th in the NABC National Poll, while also sitting 1st in the South Central Regional Poll with a 4-0 start to the year following an historic 2021-22 season. The Yellow Jackets were picked to finish first in the RMAC Preseason Poll.
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WEDNESDAY vs. MSU BILLINGS
The Yellowjackets are also undefeated so far this season, sitting at 4-0 with wins over No. 13 Cal State San Marcos as well as Holy Names, Rocky Mountain College and Minot State. After finishing 13-14 last season (9-8 GNAC), MSUB returns two of their top scorers and have added a trio of transfers who all make up their top five scorers this season.
YELLOWJACKETS' LAST TIME OUT
Using a strong first half to establish momentum, Montana State University Billings rode an early lead to a 76-69 win over host Minot State University on Saturday evening at the MSU Dome.
The Yellowjackets held a 32-25 lead at halftime, before the teams battled back-and-forth to an even 44-44 score in the second half. MSUB improved to 4-0 on the season, marking its best start to a campaign since going 5-0 at the outset of 2017-18.
Senior Carrington Wiggins was yet again the catalyst, leading all players with 26 points on the evening including a perfect 13-for-13 mark from the free-throw line. Bilal Shabazz had 15 points – two off his MSUB career high – to go along with a team-high seven rebounds. Steven Richardson also reached double figures with a dozen points, and Abdul Bah finished with eight on the evening.
Minot State was led by a trio of double-figure scorers, with Javeon Tolliver pacing the team at 16 points to go along with six rebounds. Khari Broadway added 14 points and Jaxon Gunville had 10, while Roman Srejma led the team with nine rebounds. Despite out-rebounding the Yellowjackets 37-31, the Beavers fell to 1-1 on the young season with the defeat.
Minot State held the early momentum from the tipoff, leading for the first 13 minutes of play. It wasn't until a 3-pointer by Bah at the 6:57 mark in the first half that the Yellowjackets obtained their first lead, as he pushed the score to 19-17. The next few minutes went back-and-forth, with a three by Shabazz being answered by a three from Broadway to even the score at 25-25.
MSUB went on a 7-0 run over the final 2:21 of the first half however, with Wiggins scoring the first five points and Shabazz knocking down a last-second jumper to give the 'Jackets the momentum heading into the locker rooms.
Minot State got the first bucket of the second half, but MSUB never relinquished the lead over the final 20 minutes despite a valiant effort by the Beavers. The Yellowjackets' lead peaked at 18 points after a big three by Richardson at the 10:19 mark in the second, but MSUB had to endure a late comeback push by Minot State. The Beavers whittled away and got it down to a four-point game with 48 seconds left on the clock, but a three-point play by Wiggins highlighted a final minute that saw MSUB hit 6 of 7 free throws to put the game to bed.
MSUB made up for its rebounding shortcomings by limiting its turnovers to just 13, while Minot State had 22 giveaways that led to 21 points off of turnovers for the Yellowjackets. MSUB's scrappy defense came away with 16 steals – far and away its highest total of the 2022-23 season thus far.
LAST MATCHUP: BHSU vs. MSUB (Nov. 24, 2021)
Black Hills State men's basketball fell to Montana State University Billings, 81-69 Wednesday night as the team closed out its 2021-22 non-conference schedule.
The Yellow Jackets (2-3, 0-0 RMAC) had two players with double-doubles on the night, each scoring over 20 points. As a team, BHSU shot 45.6 percent from the field, but turned the ball over 14 times to MSUB's four turnovers.
Joel Scott put up his fourth double-double of the season with 21 points and a team-leading 13 rebounds. He also tallied three assists and a steal.
Adam Moussa recorded his first career double-double in the game with his team-high 22 points and 10 rebounds. Moussa was three assists shy of a triple-double with seven and also recorded a steal.
Sava Dukic finished with nine points and five assists while
John Shanklin and
PJ Hayes each scored seven.
Scott opened the scoring for the Yellow Jackets with a pair of early 3-pointers before MSUB rattled off an 18-0 run, going ahead 23-8 midway through the first half. BHSU followed that up scoring six unanswered points to pull back within nine.
Down 34-24 in the final minutes of the opening half, a Shanklin dunk and Scott's fourth 3-pointer of the game made it an 8-point game going into halftime as MSUB led 42-34.
Out of the break, MSUB continued to build it's lead throughout the second half as the Yellow Jackets trailed 71-51 with about five minutes left in the game. BHSU would cut into the MSUB lead in the closing minutes, but couldn't overcome the deficit, falling 81-69.
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MONDAY at SOUTH DAKOTA MINES
SDSMT is 0-4 this season and looking for their first win of the season after falling to Texas A&M Kingsville and Texas A&M International to open the season before losing to Augustana and MSU Moorhead at the East-West Challenge last weekend.
HARDROCKERS' LAST TIME OUT
The Hardrocker Men's Basketball team finished up the East/West Challenge on Saturday, taking on top-25 opponent, MSU Moorhead at the Pentagon in Sioux Falls.
The Hardrockers played a good first half, going into the locker room, down five, 41-36. Brevin Walter and Kolten Mortensen led the offense in the first half, both scoring in double digits with Walter scoring 15 and Mortensen adding 11.
Mortensen hit a three to open up the Hardrocker scoring in the second half, briefly cutting the deficit to two points, however, the South Dakota Mines offense would slow down and Jacob Beeninga and MSU Moorhead would be too much. First, an 8-0 run stretched their lead to 10, then they would continue their momentum, going up 69-51, before winning 74-57.
The second half was a battle, with the Hardrockers cutting it to within a couple of possesions, several times, including going on a 10-0 run, however the Hardrockers were not able to keep it up and Augustana closed the game on an 18-0 run, pulling away late for the 82-60 defeat. Beeninga scored 28 for the Dragons.
LAST MATCHUP: BHSU vs. SDSMT (Feb. 19, 2022)
Black Hills State men's basketball took down rival South Dakota Mines, 79-65 at the King Center on Saturday night.
The Yellow Jackets (17-7, 15-4 RMAC) used a strong second half to finish with a 65.2 shooting percentage from the field and complete the season sweep over the Hardrockers.
Joel Scott was the game's leading scorer and rebounder with 27 points and nine rebounds, making 10-of-12 from the field and 7-of-8 from the charity stripe. He also grabbed two steals.
Sindou Cisse finished with 16 points and eight rebounds to go along with three assists.
Sava Dukic went a perfect 4-of-4 from beyond the arc, totaling 14 points, four assists, two rebounds and a steal.
Adam Moussa had a team-high five assists and three steals to go along with his seven points.
Ryker Cisarik had the team's lone blocked shot while scoring eight points and grabbing four boards.
After early threes from Moussa and Cisse, a Scott layup put BHSU ahead 10-9 only five minutes into the game. Free throws by Cisse and Scott midway through the first would give the Yellow Jackets a 19-14 lead.
Dukic and Hayes seemed to trade 3-pointers with the Hardrockers as the clock ticked down as BHSU went up 35-30 with 3:12 remaining before heading to the locker room with a 36-33 advantage.
The Yellow Jackets played add-on out of the break, outscoring SDSMT 12-3 behind a Cisarik triple and a Scott dunk to make it a 48-36 game at the 15:52 mark. A few minutes later, dunks from Cisarik and Cisse extended the BHSU lead to 54-40, midway through the second half.
BHSU would lead by as much as 20 points when a Scott jumper at 6:23 gave the team a 67-47 lead. The Hardrockers wouldn't quit, though, using a 13-4 run to inch back to within 11 points, but a clutch three by Dukic made it 74-60 with 2:16 to play.
That would halt the SDSMT momentum before a huge dunk from Scott at 1:31 would all but seal the game as BHSU went on to win, 79-65.
YELLOW JACKETS' LAST TIME OUT
Black Hills State men's basketball took down a ranked opponent for the second-straight day, defeating No. 18 Augustana Saturday morning, 82-73.
The Yellow Jackets (4-0) wrapped up their 2-0 performance at the East-West Challenge at the Sanford Pentagon thanks to 50 percent shooting (29-58) and 31.3 percent from the arc (10-32) against Augie.
Joel Scott recorded his first double-double of the season with 25 points and 11 rebounds, along with a block.
Adam Moussa's 12 assists led the team and ranks fourth all-time at BHSU for assists in a game. Moussa also totaled six rebounds and six points.
PJ Hayes and Jaeton Hackley were both double-digit scorers, totaling 15 and 12 points, respectively.
After a slow start, a
Sava Dukic 3-pointer and Scott 3-point play evened the score at 6-6 early in the game before back-to-back layups from Scott pushed the Yellow Jackets out front 10-6 at 13:50 in the first.
A quick 9-2 spurt from Augustana put them out front 15-12, though, before a Hayes triple evened the game once again at 15-all.
Augie would re-take the lead but Scott layups and a Hayes three kept the game within two possessions, until a Scott three in the final minute sent BHSU into halftime trailing 32-30.
Out of the break, Augustana added on and got out to a 38-31 lead which would end up being their largest of the game. But a Matthew Ragsdale three and a Hayes steal and dunk drew the Yellow Jackets closer before a Hayes layup brought the game to its fourth tie, 38-38 with 16:55 to play.
Shortly after, a Ragsdale layup and Scott dunk gave BHSU their first lead of the half, 42-40, and a pair of Dukic free throws followed by a Moussa step back gave the Yellow Jackets a 49-42 lead with 13:42 to go.
Threes from Hearne and Hackley kept BHSU out front 61-55 midway through the half, and as the clock ticked under five minutes, makes from Hackley and Moussa extended the lead to 72-64.
Down the stretch, free throws from Scott would give the Yellow Jackets their first double-digit lead of the game, 74-64, before the team went 6-of-6 from the charity stripe to seal the 82-73 victory.
COACHES
Head coach
Ryan Thompson is in 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.
Mick Durham is also entering his fifth season as head coach at MSUB after leading the team to the GNAC Championship last season.
Eric Glenn is in his fifth year leading the Hardrockers and has three decades of coaching experience under his belt.
MATCHUP HISTORY
BHSU and MSUB have met six times, in which the Yellow Jackets are 1-5 all time in those meetings dating back to 2012. BHSU last played MSUB last year, falling in Billings, Mont. 81-69. The program earned its one win over MSUB on Nov. 16, 2013 in a 97-77 victory.
The Yellow Jackets are 112-92 all-time against SDM, having won the last two matchups between the two programs, and is 8-2 over their last 10.
YELLOW JACKETS RANKED
The Yellow Jackets remain fifth in the latest D2SIDA National Poll and sixth in the NFCA National Poll, while remaining first in the South Central Regional Poll.
A WEDNESDAY BHSU WIN WOULD...
Make the Yellow Jackets 5-0 to open the season for the first time since the 1988-89 season.
A WEDNESDAY BHSU LOSS WOULD...
Give the Yellow Jackets a 4-1 start to the season, still their best start since also going 4-1 in the 2010-11 season, in which they finished the year 28-7.
KEY RETURNERS
BHSU returns all of its starters from the 2021-22 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 ahead of the 2022-23 season, who had previously spent all three seasons of his career at Western Colorado where he totaled 1,309 points over 73 games and 2,185 minutes played. In the 2021-22 season, Ragsdale finished second in the RMAC in scoring with 601 total points and 21.5 per game, behind only
Joel Scott.
Ragsdale rejoins former high school teammate, Scott, after they played together 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:
148
-BHSUAthletics.com-
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