No. 4/5 Black Hills State men's basketball hits the road this week, traveling to take on Metro State and No. 8/10 Colorado Mines.

The Yellow Jackets will take face the Roadrunners on Friday, Dec. 9 at 7 p.m. and then the Orediggers on Saturday, Dec. 10 at 7 p.m.

BHSU is currently ranked fourth in the nation in the D2SIDA Media Poll and fifth in the NABC National Poll, collecting a first-place vote. The team remains first in the South Central Regional Poll with an 8-0 start to the year, matching the program's best start since the 1927-28 season when they also opened the season 8-0.

 

No. 4/5 BLACK HILLS STATE  at  Metro State   FRIDAY, DEC. 9 // 7 P.M. // DENVER, COLO. // AURARIA EVENT CENTER Live Stream / Live Stats / Game Notes / Tickets

FRIDAY at METRO STATE
The Roadrunners are coming off a weekend split to open RMAC play, falling to Westminster 93-65 on Friday before beating RV Colorado Mesa 84-78 on Saturday. In the RMAC, Metro State has been middle-of-the-pack statistically. They rank second in offensive rebounding averaging 11 per game, giving themselves plenty of second chance opportunities, and sixth in the conference with a field goal percentage of .476.

Historically, BHSU is 6-15 against Metro State since entering DII in 2011, but are winners of their last three meetings, and five of their last six. Last season, the Yellow Jackets used a buzzer beater at MSUD to win 77-75 before an 80-75 win against them at home.

ROADRUNNERS' LAST TIME OUT
The MSU Denver defense shut down Colorado Mesa over the final four minutes and multiple players made key offensive plays as the Roadrunners earned an 84-78 road victory Saturday night over a team receiving votes in both national polls.

Mesa was shooting 64.9 percent from the field before missing 10 of its final 12 field goal tries over the last 10 minutes, including its last five shots over the final 2:31.

The road win against a quality opponent was huge as it came after a disappointing 28-point road loss at Westminster in Friday's Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference opener.

Colorado Mesa led 61-52 with 12:03 left in the game before the Roadrunners clawed their way back into it.

Jake Chrisman's free throws capped a 15-6 run that gave MSU Denver a 67-66 lead with 7:57 to go.
The lead changed hands several times over the next few minutes, but then Mesa seemed to be gaining the upper hand, taking a lead of 77-73 with 3:14 left.

But redshirt freshman Jaden Kennis drove for a tough three-point play to bring the Roadrunners within a point with 2:57 to go, and true freshman Brayden Maldonado made a clutch 3-pointer with the shot clock running out to put the Roadrunners in front 79-77 with 1:56 left. Maldonado was 4 for 4 from 3-point range.

After two defensive stops, Tyrei Randall made two free throws for an 81-77 lead with 54 seconds left, and then Luke Jones forced a Mesa turnover with solid defense on the ensuing possession.

Randall made two more free throws with 23 seconds left, completing a 10-0 run for an 83-77 lead, and the Roadrunners held on for the win despite a couple of shaky moments.

LAST MATCHUP: BHSU vs. MSUD (Feb. 26, 2022)
Black Hills State men's basketball are the 2021-22 RMAC Regular Season Champions, clinching the title Saturday night with an 80-75 win over Metro State.

The Yellow Jackets (19-7, 17-4 RMAC) earn the title for the second time in three years, also finishing first in the RMAC in the 2019-20 season, tied with Dixie State.

Joel Scott led all scorers with 25 points, shooting 7-14 from the floor, to go with five rebounds and two steals.

Sava Dukic scored 15, sinking 5-of-6 from beyond the arc.

BHSU took an 11-10 lead to open the game before both offenses cooled, trading possessions over the next three minutes of play. Tommy Donovan helped wake the offense up by making a layup at 12:56 during what would be a 9-0 run to extend the lead to 17-10.

Back-and-forth play took over from there as MSUD worked their way back to even the score at 21-all. A Cisse trey with five minutes to go put BHSU up 29-25, but the Roadrunners chipped away to hold a 40-36 lead at halftime.

Out of the break, the Yellow Jackets used threes from Ryker Cisarik and Moussa to pull within two, 48-46, before another Moussa triple at 12:16 gave BHSU its first lead of the half, 54-53.

The Yellow Jackets held the lead from there and kept the advantage as the clock ticked down thanks to a trio of big 3-pointers from Dukic as BHSU would lead 73-66 with 5:26 remaining.

Holding a 77-73 lead as the game entered its final minute of play, Scott and Moussa made free throws to seal the game.

 

No. 4/5 BLACK HILLS STATE  at  No. 8/10 Colorado Mines   SATURDAY, DEC. 10 // 7 P.M. // GOLDEN, COLO. // LOCKRIDGE ARENA Live Stream / Live Stats / Game Notes / Tickets

SATURDAY at No. 8/10 COLORADO MINES
Like BHSU, CSM is off to an 8-0 start to the season, with a win over No. 16/24 Lubbock Christian 69-66 before beating RV Colorado Mesa last weekend 74-62 to open RMAC play. CSM currently ranks 10th in the nation on the NABC Coaches Poll, and 11th on the D2SIDA Media Poll.

Against Colorado Mines, the Yellow Jackets are 4-14 in program history since 2011 and are 3-3 over their last six games. BHSU saw CSM only once last season, defeating them 78-72 down in Golden, Colo.

OREDIGGERS' LAST TIME OUT
No. 10/11 Colorado School of Mines overcame a slow start to win on the road at Westminster, 79-73, and extend their perfect season start to 8-0.

The Orediggers were led by Adam Thistlewood's 20 points and nine rebounds, and a do-it-all effort from Sam Beskind with 12 points, four boards, five assists, and four steals. Brendan Sullivan hit 12 points and Kai Barr 10 off the bench.

Thistlewood scored his 1,000 collegiate point during the game in a combined career at Mines and Colorado State.

Mines had another terrific night at the foul line going 19-for-21, and that proved to be the difference in a game where Westminster (1-6, 1-1 RMAC) actually shot better overall than Mines at 49.2 percent to 41.5 percent and made more three pointers as well (9 to 6). The Oredigger starting five were perfect at the stripe going a combined 14-for-14.

Westminster's Taylor Miller was red-hot shooting 10-of-14 for a game-high 22 points.

Mines fell in a big hole to start the game as the Griffins raced out to a 16-4 lead, but Adam Krasovec and Reagan Koch injected energy off the bench to combine for an 11-0 run and quickly cut it to a 16-15 game at the midpoint of the first half. Mines built on its momentum from there, ultimately taking its first lead on a Trent Dykema three-pointer at the 6:09 mark and then heading into the half on an 8-3 run started by back-to-back Sullivan three-pointers to lead 40-34.

The visitors never trailed after that, but Westminster never really went away, either, keeping in contact until the closing minutes when Thistlewood went on a solo 6-0 run of his own to increase the lead to 71-58 with 3:41 to go. The Griffins never gave up as Taylor hit three baskets for seven points in the final minute, but Sullivan, Beskind, and Dykema were perfect at the foul line to ice the game.

LAST MATCHUP: BHSU vs. CSM (March 4, 2022)
Black Hills State men's basketball used a strong second-half performance to sink Colorado Mines, 78-72 Saturday night.

The Yellow Jackets (9-3, 7-0 RMAC) had three in double-digit scoring, and shot 64.5 percent from the field and 60 percent from beyond the arc as a team in the second half.

Joel Scott tallied a team-leading 23 points and 14 rebounds to record his ninth double-double of the season. Scott also finished with two assists and two blocks.

Tommy Donovan scored a career-best 20 points, going 8-of-10 from the field and 3-of-4 from deep.

Sindou Cisse was also in double-digit scoring with 14 points to go along with seven rebounds, two assists and a steal.

Scott opened the game with a dunk to put BHSU ahead early before the Yellow Jackets took their biggest lead of the half, 6-2, a few minutes later.

CSM followed that with eight unanswered, though, to take a 10-6 lead with 14:49 to go. Two lead changes later, a Scott layup and free throw at 7:49 evened the score back up at 16-all.

BHSU would struggle to get shots to fall the rest of the half, and CSM used a 12-4 run in the closing minutes of the first to take a 28-20 lead into the locker room.

The Yellow Jackets began inching their way back out of the break as Dukic opened the second half with a 3-pointer, before layups from Scott and Moussa cut the Oredigger lead to 33-29 a few possessions later.

After a Donovan triple made it a one-possession game, Scott would bring the Yellow Jackets back even with the Orediggers with a turnaround jumper at 13:17, making it 38-38.

The BHSU offense found a groove after that, outscoring CSM 16-8 behind threes from Donovan and PJ Hayes to take a 54-46 lead midway through the second. The Yellow Jackets wouldn't let up, eventually pushing their lead into double figures on another Donovan trey to make it a 61-51 game with 6:39 to play.

The Orediggers would hang around, using a quick 9-3 spurt to pull back within six (70-64) entering the final minute, but BHSU went 8-of-11 from the free throw line down the stretch to seal the 78-72 win.

YELLOW JACKETS' LAST TIME OUT
Black Hills State men's basketball moved past UC Colorado Springs, 87-79 Saturday night, improving to 8-0 and tying a program-best start to the season, matching only the 1927-28 Black Hills Teachers College team.

The Yellow Jackets (8-0, 2-0 RMAC) used big shots in the second half once again as all five starters recorded double-digit points.

Joel Scott led the way with 28 points, going 9-of-14 from the field and 10-of-14 from the charity stripe. He recorded a double-double on the night with his 14 rebounds.

PJ Hayes was also a hot shooter, making 6-of-7 from deep to finish with 22 points and nine rebounds.

Adam Moussa and Matthew Ragsdale each had 12 points and three rebounds apiece.

Sindou Cisse tallied six rebounds and a team-high three assists to go along with his 10 points.

Both squads went back-and-forth to start the game until a trio of Hayes three-pointers and a Scott layup helped BHSU rattle off an 8-0 run to jump out to a 15-8 lead with under 14 minutes to go in the first.

Hayes and Cisse continued to put shots in the basket, with Hayes knocking down 4-of-5 three-pointers early in the half. UCCS charged back from the fast Yellow Jacket start, however, chipping away to a 20-16 deficit on a three-pointer and a layup. 

Shooting cooled off for a handful of possessions on both sides until UCCS evened the game at 22-all with seven to play before halftime. Over those final minutes, the Mountain Lions would move on top and hold a 42-37 lead at the break.

Out of the locker room, BHSU worked its way back and cut into the deficit using a 3-point play from Scott and a Ragsdale trey to pull within one, 44-43, before a Hayes three gave BHSU the lead at 48-47 with 16:34 to go.

A few possessions later, Scott went down the court to secure a three-point play once again to make it a six-point Yellow Jacket lead. Shortly after, another Ragsdale three brought BHSU to a 66-55 lead with 8:33 left in the game. 

The Mountain Lions wouldn't quit, though, chipping away and cutting the Yellow Jacket lead to five in the final minutes, but a Ragsdale layup with just over two minutes to play extended the BHSU lead to 80-69 before the team went 5-of-6 on free throws the rest of the way to seal the win.

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.

Dan Ficke is in his first year as head coach of the Roadrunners, after spending the last three seasons at Belmont Abbey where he went 61-25.

Pryor Orson is in his 22nd season leading the Orediggers, consistently keeping the program nationally prominent over that span.

YELLOW JACKETS RANKED
The Yellow Jackets moved up a spot to fourth in the latest D2SIDA National Poll and fifth in the NABC National Poll, while also collecting a first-place vote, a first in program history. BHSU also remains first in the South Central Regional Poll with all six first-place votes.

Statistically, BHSU ranks second in NCAA DII in defensive rebounds per game (32.5), sixth in the nation in field goal percentage defense (36.6), and seventh in 3-point percentage defense (26.9).

The Yellow Jacket offense also ranks seventh in the nation in made threes per game (11.0), 11th in 3-point percentage (41.9), and 18th in field goal percentage (50.7).

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 defense, three-point percentage, and made threes per game, and is top-five in 15 categories.

A FRIDAY BHSU WIN WOULD...
Give the Yellow Jackets their best start to a season in program history at 9-0. It would also keep BHSU atop the RMAC standings and in the national rankings.

A FRIDAY BHSU LOSS WOULD...
Put the Yellow Jackets at 8-1 to open the season, still the best start since 2008-09 when the team started 12-1. BHSU would likely fall to second in the RMAC standings, though dependent on the results of Fort Lewis' and Colorado Mines' weekend games.

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:
276