No. 4/5 Black Hills State men's basketball hosts New Mexico Highlands this Friday, Dec.16 at 7 p.m. at the Donald E. Young Center.
The Yellow Jackets meet the Cowboys for the first time this season, in what will be the final home game for BHSU before the new year. Friday's game will also be Teacher Appreciation Night, honoring local teachers, along with a school supply drive the department is holding to benefit the Cheyenne Eagle Butte School District.
BHSU remains ranked fourth in the nation in the D2SIDA Media Poll and fifth in the NABC National Poll, and collecting a first-place vote for the second-straight week. The team remains first in the South Central Regional Poll with a 10-0 start to the year, which is the best start to a season in program history, besting the 1927-28 team who went 8-0 to open the season.
The Cowboys are coming off a weekend split, falling to Fort Lewis 83-74 on Friday before beating Adams State 87-73 on Saturday. In the RMAC, NMHU has been middle-of-the-pack statistically, and in the standings, currently tied for fifth with six teams all with 2-2 conference records.
Their defense ranks second in the RMAC in opponent field goal percentage, allowing opposing teams a .390 shooting percentage from the field this year. That number sits behind only BHSU's clip of .373. The Cowboys also lead the RMAC in blocked shots this year, totaling 51 this season and averaging over five per game.
MATCHUP HISTORY
Historically, BHSU is 7-7 all-time against NMHU since 2013, but are winners of four of their last five meetings, and six of their last eight.
Last season, the Yellow Jackets faced the Cowboys three times, defeating them at home, 91-69 in December before falling 83-74 in Las Vegas, N.M. in February. Then the two teams met once more in the quarterfinal matchup of the RMAC Tournament, in which BHSU came out ahead,
102-76.
YELLOW JACKETS RANKED
The Yellow Jackets remain fourth in the latest D2SIDA National Poll and fifth in the NABC National Poll, while also collecting a first-place vote for the second-straight week. BHSU also remains first in the South Central Regional Poll, where they've sat all season, with all six first-place votes.
Statistically, BHSU ranks second in NCAA DII in defensive rebounds per game (32.2), sixth in the nation in field goal percentage defense (37.3).
The Yellow Jacket offense ranks eighth in the nation in made threes per game (11.1) and 3-point percentage (42.0), and 16th in field goal percentage (50.3).
As a team, BHSU leads the RMAC in seven key statistical categories, including assist/turnover ratio, field goal percentage, field goal percentage defense, defensive rebounds per game, scoring margin, three-point percentage, and made threes per game, and is top-five in 15 categories.
A FRIDAY BHSU WIN WOULD...
Keep BHSU atop the RMAC standings and in the national rankings while continuing their historic start to the season.
A FRIDAY BHSU LOSS WOULD...
Put the Yellow Jackets at 10-1 to open the season, still the best start since 2008-09 when the team started 12-1. BHSU would remain first or second in the RMAC standings, dependent on the results of Fort Lewis' and Colorado Mines' weekend games.
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.
Matt Dominguez is in his second year as head coach of the Cowboys, after spending the previous seasons as associate head coach.
YELLOW JACKETS' LAST TIME OUT
Black Hills State men's basketball took No. 8/10 Colorado Mines to overtime before its 85-77 win Saturday night.
The Yellow Jackets (10-0, 4-0 RMAC) saw 13 leads and 13 ties in the game as they continue their hot start to the season.
Joel Scott led the offense with 23 points and 20 boards, good for fifth all-time in program history for rebounds in a game. Scott also added a pair of steals.
Adam Moussa totaled 21 points to go along five assists and three rebounds.
Matthew Ragsdale scored 17, going 5-of-8 from deep while
Ryker Cisarik finished with 12 points and Cisse scored nine.
Early threes from Moussa and Ragsdale put BHSU ahead 11-6 in the opening five minutes, but the Orediggers evened things up shortly after, 11-all with 14:16 to go in the first.
Back-and-forth play resulted in five ties over the course of the rest of the first half as the Yellow Jackets went into halftime trailing 35-31.
Out of the locker room, BHSU immediately tied the game 35-35 on a
PJ Hayes jumper before a Cisse layup capped an 8-0 run to put the Yellow Jackets up 37-35 less than two minutes into the half.
Later, back-to-back threes from Ragsdale pushed BHSU ahead 52-43 in what would be BHSU's largest lead within regulation.
CSM would inch back, though, eventually tying the game at 58-all with 8:16 remaining before re-taking the lead 59-58. Another Ragsdale three put BHSU back up 61-59 before the Orediggers pulled away, getting out to a 67-61 lead with under five to go
As time ticked down, seven straight points from Scott brought BHSU back within one-possession, trailing 71-69 with 1:21 left in regulation.
After a CSM free throw extended their lead to 72-69, Moussa went down the court to sink a game-tying triple with 12 seconds left, sending the game into overtime.
Quick shots from the Yellow Jackets in overtime, including another Moussa three, put BHSU ahead 77-72 with just over three minutes left to go. Along with a Scott layup in the final minutes, Cisarik and Cisse went 6-of-6 from the charity stripe down the stretch to seal the 85-77 win.
COWBOYS' LAST TIME OUT
New Mexico Highlands men's basketball looked to go 1-1 on the home stand against the Grizzlies of Adams State University.
The Cowboys took a one-point lead into the half behind the effort of Dante Moses and Jaylen Domina-Lovato. This was after holding a lead of as many as 12. Both teams had big runs during the first half then exchanged baskets until the break.
NMHU jumped out early in the second half behind quick baskets by TJ Sanchez and Moses before pulling away and never looking back.
Moses tallied a season-high 35 points and TJ Sanchez had a career-best 28 points on the night.
LAST MATCHUP: BHSU vs. NMHU (March 1, 2022)
Black Hills State men's basketball won in resounding fashion Tuesday, rolling past New Mexico Highlands 102-76 in the RMAC Semifinals.
The Yellow Jackets (20-7, 18-4 RMAC) will advance to the RMAC Semifinals for the second straight year as the RMAC tournament will run through Spearfish.
As a team, BHSU shot 55.7 percent from the field and 54.3 percent from beyond the arc. The team also set a school record since moving to DII with 19 made 3-pointers.
Sindou Cisse led all scorers with a career-best 29 points to go along with four assists.
Joel Scott scored 22 while grabbing five boards while
Sava Dukic went 6-7 from deep for 20 points.
Adam Moussa recorded a team-high nine rebounds, eight assists and two steals while scoring eight.
Scott sank 3-pointers on back-to-back possessions early in the game to put BHSU up 11-9, and the team never looked back.
Shortly after taking a lead, the Yellow Jackets rattled off a 12-0 run highlighted by big treys from Moussa and
Tommy Donovan to make it a 28-20 game.
Minutes later as time ran down in the opening half, BHSU outscored NMHU 12-2, scoring on three straight possessions before a Dukic three made it 51-32 with under 2:00 to play, eventually taking a 57-35 lead into the locker room.
The Yellow Jackets played add-on in the second half and the Cowboys couldn't keep up.
Michael Russell capped the scoring for BHSU with a 3-pointer with 47 second remaining to give the team their largest score of the season as they went on to win 102-72.
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:
350
-BHSUAthletics.com-
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