Black Hills State men's basketball hits the road this weekend to take on UC Colorado Springs and New Mexico Highlands.
The Yellow Jackets will tip off with UCCS on Friday, Feb. 11 at 7:30 p.m., and then NMHU on Saturday, Feb. 12 at 7 p.m.
BHSU is 14-2 in the RMAC this season, and 16-5 overall, which is a program-best since they joined the RMAC for the 2012-13 season. The program has received votes on national NCAA MBB Polls twice this season, receiving four votes on the Jan. 31 D2SIDA poll, and two votes on the Jan. 2 NABC Coaches Poll.
BHSU is now coming off a big 85-75 win over No. 13/15 Regis on Monday, and now looks ahead to facing UCCS on Friday, Feb. 11 at 7:30 p.m., and New Mexico Highlands on Saturday, Feb. 12 at 7 p.m.
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   BLACK HILLS STATE at UC Colorado Springs  
FRIDAY, FEB. 11Â //Â 7:30 P.M. // COLORADO SPRINGS, COLO. // GALLOGLY EVENTS CENTER
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FRIDAY vs. UC COLORADO SPRINGS
The 5th-place Mountain Lions have the highest scoring margin in the RMAC, outscoring their opponents by an average of 12 points per game. UCCS is also the leading rebounding team in the lead, averaging 41.3 rebounds per game, 12.1 offensive rebounds per game and 29.2 defensive rebounds per game.
Additionally, they lead the league with 16.23 assists per game and second in the RMAC in blocked shots per game (4.63).
The 5th-place Mountain Lions are 15-7 overall and 10-6 in league play, coming off a split last weekend with a win over Western Colorado and a loss to Fort Lewis. BHSU is 11-10 all-time against UCCS, and are winners of their last three matchups.
MOUNTAIN LIONS' LAST TIME OUT
University of Colorado Colorado Springs men's basketball receives their first loss in nearly a month by falling to sharp shooting Fort Lewis College 90-78 on Saturday night inside FLC's Whalen Gymnasium.
Off the tip-off, it was Fort Lewis College trying to set the tone early as a made layup from Brendan Boatwright drew the and-one to put the Skyhawks up 3-0 in the first possession of the game. The next score came out of the hands of William Becker who pulled up to make his third three-pointer of the year as the sophomore erased the FLC lead and-one play.
On the opposite end, FLC managed to regain the lead with a made jumper and pushed out to a four-point lead but Parker Gaddis fed an open Wyatt Dolberry who drained a three to keep the game within one-point at the 13:49 mark, 9-8.Â
The Skyhawks maintained the lead further into the first half as Akuel Oket hit back-to-back three-pointers to put the pressure on UCCS who answered with Jezza McKenzie netting a jumper in the paint and Jon'il Fugett recording a trey right out of the media timeout to reel the game back to three points at the 7:43 mark, 22-19.
From there, the Skyhawks continued to make their shots count as they built out to a 37-25 lead with a little over two minutes left in the half.
Boasting a field-goal percentage of 52 percent, FLC didn't slow down in taking shots with the UCCS defense not slowing down either as Mac Stodart laid one in and came back on the other end to force a Riley Farris turnover.
The Australian native notched the steal and helped turn it into three points by feeding Fugett for the open three as they cut the FLC lead down with 1:24 left, 37-30. A pair of free throws came both teams' way in the final seconds of the half as Fort Lewis held on to the seven-point lead at halftime.
In the second half, the Skyhawks were sent to the line just over a minute in where 1-of-2 free throws were made from Boatwright. Just as he did to open the game, Becker matched the first FLC points of the half by collecting an offensive rebound and putting it back for what would be the Mountain Lions' smallest deficit for the remainder of the game, 40-34.
UCCS improved their second half field-goal percentage by bumping up to 41.9 percent, but the Skyhawks showed no sign of slowing down as they sprinted ahead to a 20-point lead behind a blistering 60.7 field-goal percentage for the half to make it 65-45.
The Mountain Lions chipped away at the 20-point deficit in the final minutes with Bobby Martin coming on to the floor to score eight points in the final four minutes with McKenzie also throwing in six points to sit back only eight points with 23 seconds left. That eight points turned into 11 after two more committed UCCS fouls led to a 90-79 final inside Whalen Gymnasium.
LAST MATCHUP: UCCS @ BHSU (Dec. 19, 2021)
Black Hills State men's basketball won its sixth straight game Sunday night as they took down UC Colorado Springs, 92-77.
The Yellow Jackets led all 40 minutes and shot nearly 60 percent from the field.
Joel Scott led the team with 25 points and shared the team-lead of five rebounds with
Sindou Cisse, who totaled 16 points.
Adam Moussa finished with 22 points, three assists and two rebounds.
PJ Hayes was on fire from deep, making 4-of-8 three-point attempts as he finished with 18 points and three rebounds.
Hayes opened the scoring for the Yellow Jackets with a layup as they went on to outscore UCCS 13-4 to open the game. BHSU held the advantage and took their first 10-point lead of the game, 30-20, on a Moussa jumper at 8:23.
With under five to play in the first, a Hayes layup and a pair of Scott free throws gave the Yellow Jackets their largest lead of the half, 40-27. UCCS cut into their deficit in the closing minutes of the half as BHSU went into the locker room leading 46-41
Back-and-forth play continued out of the half until a pair of 3-pointers from Hayes extended the BHSU lead to 54-46. The Mountain Lions started heating up from there, pulling to within one possession several times as the game ticked into its final minutes.
BHSU started to separate again with Scott layups and a big three by
Caelin Hearne with 3:46 to play to make it an 81-70 game. Down the stretch, another trey from Hayes along with some final free throws sealed the 92-77 victory.
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SATURDAY vs. NEW MEXICO HIGHLANDS
Although the 12th-place Cowboys have the third-highest scoring in the RMAC, averaging 81.4 points per game, they rank 13th in defense, allowing 78.8 ppg. After a strong start to the season in non-conference play, they've gone 5-10 in the RMAC.
The 12th-place Cowboys are 10-11 overall and 5-10 in the RMAC. NMHU is currently riding a four-game winning streak, collecting wins over South Dakota Mines, Fort Lewis, Western Colorado and CSU Pueblo. BHSU is 6-6 all-time against NMHU, and has won each of their last three meetings.
COWBOYS' LAST TIME OUT
The New Mexico Highlands men's basketball team won its fourth game in a row with a 94-84 victory over CSU Pueblo on Wednesday at Wilson Complex.
The Cowboys led for much of the contest, though CSU Pueblo kept it close and tied it at 82-82 with 3:51 remaining. Sammy Barnes-Thompkins answered for NMHU with a bucket on the Cowboys' next possession as they led the rest of the contest.
NMHU finished the game shooting 57.6 percent from the field, including connecting on half its 3-pointers (9-for-18).
Barnes-Thompkins led five Cowboys in double figures with 22 points to go along with eight rebounds, four assists and two steals. Desmond Carpenter had 19 points, six rebounds and six assists, Marcus Brown had 17 points, six rebounds and three blocks, Andre Adams had 15 points and Ja'Vary Christmas had 11 points.
LAST MATCHUP: NMHU @ BHSU (Dec. 18, 2021)
Black Hills State men's basketball won in resounding fashion Saturday night, defeating New Mexico Highlands 91-69.
The Yellow Jackets shot at a 61.8 percent clip from the field and 50 percent from beyond the arc as they continue to play well in the conference.
The BHSU defense was stout, holding NMHU, a team averaging over 90 points per game, to only 69 points.
Joel Scott recorded his eighth double-double of the season with a team leading 38 points and 15 rebounds. He was a perfect 9-of-9 from the charity stripe and 13-of-17 from the field, and also tallied three assists and three blocks.
Sindou Cisse tied a career-high with 26 points as he made 12-of-17 from the field.
Adam Moussa continued his well-rounded play with seven rebounds, four assists and six points, as well as a steal.
Tommy Donovan finished with 11 points and two rebounds, while
Caelin Hearne recorded two steals.
Both teams battled from tip-off, going back-and-forth early on before a quick 6-0 spurt gave BHSU a 16-10 lead. Teams went back to trading points until the Yellow Jackets would outscore the Cowboys 9-2 with shots from Scott and Cisse to take their largest lead of the half, 40-31 with 3:29 to go in the first.
NMHU would inch their way back before halftime, though, using a 9-2 run of their own to cut the Yellow Jacket lead to 42-40 entering the break.
Donovan opened the second half with a 3-pointer to extend the BHSU lead to 45-40, before later using an 16-2 scoring run capped by a Cisse steal and score to take a 15-point lead, 63-48 midway through the second half.
The Cowboys continued to hang around, getting back to within seven points (72-65) with 6:39 remaining. But from there, the Yellow Jackets would outscore NMHU 19-4 the rest of the way.
A Cisse dunk at 4:48 put BHSU ahead by 17, and Scott gave the team their first 20-point lead a few minutes later to eventually close the game.
YELLOW JACKETS' LAST TIME OUT
Black Hills State men's basketball knocked off No. 13/15 ranked Regis, 85-75 in the Regis Field House Monday night.
With the win, the Yellow Jackets have earned their first win over a ranked opponent since Nov. 10, 2019 when the team beat No. 24 Tarleton State, 78-75.
BHSU's offense came to life in the second half, shooting 56.7 percent from the field, 44.4 percent from beyond the arc, and 100 percent from the charity stripe, going 10-of-10. The team also had five scorers reach double-digits.
Sindou Cisse led the team with 18 points to go along with nine rebounds and an assist.
Joel Scott also grabbed nine boards and had two assists, two steals and a block while scoring 13.
Adam Moussa scored 15 points and grabbed five rebounds to go with three assists and a steal.
Ryker Cisarik and
Sava Dukic were also in double digits, scoring 12 and 10, respectively. Dukic totaled two steals while Cisarik went a perfect 5-of-5 from the free throw line.
Early threes from Cisse and Moussa gave BHSU an 8-4 lead early in the game. Back-and-forth play would follow in a first half in which neither team would lead by more than five points.
Midway through the half, a layup by Scott gave the Yellow Jackets a 17-14 lead, then at 6:50, a Moussa layup gave BHSU their largest lead of the half, 29-24. In the final minutes of the first, Regis evened the score at 31-31 before taking a 40-37 lead into the locker room.
Out of the break, a Dukic trey and a Cisse layup evened things right back up at 42-42 to make it a new game. Shortly after going back down 51-45, the Yellow Jackets went on a 20-0 scoring run behind five different scorers over the eight-minute stretch.
The run, capped by huge dunks from Cisse and Scott put BHSU out to a 65-51 lead with 8:13 remaining. But Regis wasn't done, as they inched their way back and pulled to within six (74-68) with 2:11 to play.
Using a 3-point-play from Dukic and another big dunk from Cisse, the Yellow Jackets were able to hold that margin into the closing seconds and went 6-of-6 from the free throw line to seal the 85-75 victory.
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.
Cowboys' Head Coach Mike Dominguez is entering his second season leading the team after he was the Associate Head Coach the two seasons prior.
Jeff Culver is now in his 10th season as Head Coach of the Mountain Lions, having coached the only NBA Draft pick and the only All-Americans in program history over that time.
A FRIDAY BHSU WIN WOULD...
Improve the Yellow Jackets to a 15-2 record in the conference which would continue their best start as members of the RMAC.
A FRIDAY BHSU LOSS WOULD...
Drop the Yellow Jackets to 16-6 overall and 14-3 in the conference.
JOEL SCOTT SUPERLATIVES
Now in his junior season, Scott currently leads the nation in defensive rebounding, averaging 9.05 per game, and ranks top-10 in six statistical categories.
1st - Defensive Rebounds Per Game (9.05)
2nd - Double-Doubles (15)
7th - Total Rebounds (228)
8th - Points Per Game (22.5)
8th - Rebounds Per Game (10.9)
9th - Total FGs Made (176)
Additionally, Scott leads the RMAC in seven different statistical categories and is top-3 in 12 categories.
DOUBLE-DOUBLES
The BHSU men's basketball team has recorded 17 individual double-doubles in the team's 21 games played to start the 2021-22 season.
Joel Scott has tallied a BHSU DII record 15 double-doubles in his 21 games played 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 23 career double-doubles at BHSU, with a career-high 15 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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