Black Hills State men's basketball will close the regular season this weekend as it hosts Colorado Christian and Metro State.
BHSU will take on CCU on Friday, Feb. 25 at 7:30 p.m. before playing Metro State on Saturday, Feb. 26 at 6 p.m.
The Yellow Jackets are 15-4 in the RMAC this season, and 17-7 overall. Their 15-4 conference record gives them their highest win total since the Co-Regular Season Champion 2019-20 season when the team finished 17-5.
The program has received votes on national NCAA MBB Polls three times this season, most recently receiving a vote on the NABC Coaches Poll on Feb. 21. Previously, the program nabbed four votes on the Jan. 31 D2SIDA poll, and two votes on the Jan. 2 NABC Coaches Poll.
BHSU is coming off a 79-65 win over rival South Dakota Mines as the team looks ahead to the final two regular season games of the season.
During Friday's games, we will be hosting Culture Night and Belle Fourche Day. Then at Saturday's games, we'll be hosting Senior Night and Lead-Deadwood Day.
Friday's Culture Night will include food samples from different cultures represented on campus, as well as information for our guests to learn more about our cultures. For Belle Fourche Day, all attendees from Belle Fourche can purchase a ticket for only $5 with proof of a driver's license or school ID.
We will honor our seniors within the program on Saturday, with the women's seniors being recognized prior to the 5:30 p.m. tip-off, and the men will be recognized immediately following the women's game. For Lead-Deadwood Day, all attendees from Lead and Deadwood can purchase a ticket for only $5 with proof of a driver's license or school ID.
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FRIDAY vs. COLORADO CHRISTIAN
The 14th-place Cougars have struggled offensively this season but have found success shooting beyond the arc.
CCU currently leads the RMAC in made threes per game with 9.8, and ranks second with a 37.9 3-point FG percentage. They're also strong free throw shooters with a 76.8 percent clip as a team.
The Cougars most recently beat New Mexico Highlands 76-64 on Feb. 19 to snap a 5-game losing streak. Before that streak, they had won back-to-back games against No. 13 Regis and Western Colorado.
BHSU won their matchup earlier this season, 80-73 and have won three of the last four meetings, but is 6-10 all-time against the Cougars.
COUGARS' LAST TIME OUT
Colorado Christian took on New Mexico Highlands on Saturday night in their final home game of the season. The Cougars played inspired basketball in front of a raucous crowd to claim the victory 76-64.
The energy in the CCU Event Center was palpable from the start, and the Cougars fed off of it all night. Ross Williams got the scoring started with a three-pointer and completed a four-point play with the foul after he hit the shot. Shaylen Woodberry continued to play well with a three of his own, and Christian Bento and Andy Stafford got buckets to fall to make the score 13-12 Cowboys. Stafford pushed his team ahead by one with a jumper, and Nic Ziel stretched the lead with a three midway through the half
DJ McDonald hit from beyond the arc, and Williams joined in with another three as the lead stood at 27-22. A late jumper from Williams made it 32-26 at the half.
Colorado Christian pushed the advantage to 10 with buckets from McDonald and Isaiah Alonzo to start the second half. Ziel picked up a layup and the Cougars lead grew to 13. Christian Bento fired up the gym with a layup and foul to pick up three points for his team, and a Jason Gallant three made it 51-38 heading down the stretch.
The Cowboys fought to cut the lead down to eight with 7:39 remaining, but Alonzo pushed it back to 10 with a layup. McDonald hit a big three with 4:47 remaining to make the lead 13, and Williams scored his final points at home with a three as the Cougars closed with a win 76-64.Â
DJ McDonald paced his team with 19 points and Isaiah Alonzo posted a double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds. McDonald paced the team with four assists.
LAST MATCHUP: BHSU @ CCU (Jan. 28, 2022)
Black Hills State men's basketball played tough to top Colorado Christian, 80-73.
The Yellow Jackets pulled away in the second half of the game which had 20 lead changes, shooting over 57 percent from the field, and making 20 free throws.
Joel Scott led all scorers with 27 points to go along with 11 rebounds, a block and an assist while going 10-of-16 from the charity stripe. Scott tallied a double-double for the 13th time this season.
Adam Moussa dished out a team-leading five assists while totaling 15 points, two steals, a block and a rebound.
Sindou Cisse scored 16 with six rebounds, four assists and two blocks while
Sava Dukic finished with 11 points and three assists.
Both teams traded buckets to open the game before a pair of Dukic layups, and free throws from Moussa and Scott, gave BHSU a 17-14 lead midway through the first.
Back-and-forth play continued in a first half that saw 18 lead changes and seven ties as the Yellow Jackets went on to sink 11-of-14 from the free throw line while only shooting 16.7 percent from deep in the first.
Though neither team could find a way to separate in the opening period, shots from Dukic and Scott in the final minute of the half sent BHSU into the locker room with their largest lead of the game to this point, 42-39.
Out of the break, the Yellow Jackets built on their lead, moving up 51-46 with a Dukic 3-pointer, and then a few minutes later, a three by
PJ Hayes put their lead into double-digits, 58-46, with 14:03 remaining.
That advantage held over the next several minutes of play until the Yellow Jackets took their largest lead of the game, going up 13 (71-58) on a Scott hook shot at 7:45.
Down the stretch, a CCU three made it a seven-point game and they would eventually pull to within five (76-71) with under one minute to play, but it wouldn't be enough as BHSU held on to win, 80-73.
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SATURDAY vs. METRO STATE
The Roadrunners sit in seventh in the RMAC thanks to their strong defense that has held the opposition to 71.9 points per game and a 44.2 field goal percentage.
With one of the top players in the nation, Laolu Oke, ranking second in the nation with 305 rebounds this year, the team gives themselves plenty of opportunity for second chances.
MSUD is coming off a stretch of three losses in four days, playing Feb. 18, 19 and 21. Before that, though, they were winners of three straight, knocking off No. 13 Regis, Colorado Christian and South Dakota Mines.
The Yellow Jackets defeated Metro State earlier this season 77-75 on a buzzer beater and have won four of their last five meetings despite an all-time record of 5-15 against the Roadrunners.
ROADRUNNERS' LAST TIME OUT
MSU Denver's Laolu Oke solidified his status as one of the best rebounders in program history Monday night as he grabbed 14 more boards to set the program's single-season record with 305.
Despite Oke's 16-point, 14-rebound, five-steal game, and despite leading by five points early in the second half, the Roadrunners fell victim to an extended scoring run by red-hot Fort Lewis and dropped an 80-57 decision at the Auraria Event Center.
Oke entered Monday ranked second in NCAA Division II in rebounds with 291 and was third in the country with 11.6 rebounds per game.
He also needed seven rebounds to move from fourth to first while passing Tillman's 1989-90 total (294) and Morse's totals of 296 (2012-13) and 297 (2011-12).
He did it in 9 minutes, 45 seconds of playing time.
He's now averaging 14.2 points and 11.7 rebounds per game, including 11.7 points and 15.0 rebounds over three games in the last four days.
After a solid first half, Tyrei Randall's conventional three-point play gave MSU Denver a 39-34 lead with 19:42 left in the game.
But Fort Lewis, which improved to 18-7 overall and 14-5 in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference, scored 29 straight points to turn a 42-40 deficit into a 69-42 lead and cruised to the finish. MSU Denver dropped to 16-10 and 10-10.
Fort Lewis shot 63.3 percent from the field in the second half (19 of 30), including 14 of 19 for 73.7 percent for the first 13 minutes. MSU Denver shot 13 percent (3 of 23) in that same 13-minute stretch.
It was a tough finish to a tough three-game weekend in which the Roadrunners lost to teams that have gone a combined 16-0 when not playing one another since Jan. 28.
MSU Denver had started the weekend on a three-game winning streak.
LAST MATCHUP: BHSU @ MSUD (Jan. 29, 2021)
Black Hills State men's basketball won on a
Joel Scott buzzer-beater as the team took down Metro State 77-75.
The Yellow Jackets finished on top in a close game that never saw either team lead by more than six points. The contest was back and forth the whole way and had 22 lead changes and 13 ties.
Adam Moussa led all scorers with 22 points, going 8-of-13 from the field and 4-of-8 from beyond the arc. He also finished with six rebounds, four rebounds and a steal.
Scott totaled 16 points and 10 rebounds for his 14th double-double of the season, and also nabbed a steal.
Sindou Cisse and
PJ Hayes each finished with 11 points and four rebounds. Cisse also added three assists and three steals.
Tommy Donovan tallied three rebounds, two assists and a steal, and
Sava Dukic had three assists and a block.
After going ahead 4-0 early, Metro State jumped ahead with a 9-0 scoring run to lead 9-4. BHSU answered with a
Ryker Cisarik 3-pointer midway through the first to even the score at 14-14.
Metro State continued to hold the advantage until a Hayes three evened things up at 28-28, and a pair of layups from Scott put BHSU back on top 32-28 with 3:25 left in the first. The two teams would trade points the rest of the way as the Yellow Jackets held a 34-33 lead at the half.
Back-and-forth play continued out of the locker rooms as a trio of big threes from Moussa kept the BHSU offense churning, but Metro State continued to answer each time the Yellow Jackets tried to extend a lead.
The game remained close as the clock ticked down and both teams sat tied at 75-all with 0:27 remaining.
In the final seconds, a missed Roadrunner free throw gave the Yellow Jackets one final chance to get a shot off, and they delivered. Cisse found a wide-open
Joel Scott under the basket who sank a layup as the clock expired to give BHSU the 77-75 victory.
YELLOW JACKETS' LAST TIME OUT
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.
COACHES
Head coach
Ryan Thompson is in his fourth season leading the Yellow Jackets, having taken the program to the RMAC tournament each of the last three years. He was named RMAC Coach of the Year following the 2019-20 season.
Cougars head coach Liam Simmons is in his second season leading the CCU men's basketball program, previously working with the Philadelphia 76ers, as well as California Riverside and Southwest Baptist.
Michael Bahl is now in his fifth season leading the Roadrunners, and was previously an assistant coach in the program, and a standout student-athlete at Metro State before that.
A FRIDAY BHSU WIN WOULD...
Improve the Yellow Jackets to a 16-4 RMAC record and give them their second-highest win total as members of the RMAC (17-5 in 2019-20 season).
A FRIDAY BHSU LOSS WOULD...
Drop the Yellow Jackets to 17-8 overall and 15-5 in the conference.
JOEL SCOTT SUPERLATIVES
Now in his junior season, Scott currently leads the nation in defensive rebounding, averaging 9.04 per game, and ranks top-10 in four statistical categories.
1st - Defensive Rebounds Per Game (9.04)
3rd - Double-Doubles (16)
8th - Rebounds Per Game (10.9)
9th - Total Rebounds (261)
Additionally, Scott leads the RMAC in three different statistical categories and is top-3 in 11 categories.
DOUBLE-DOUBLES
The BHSU men's basketball team has recorded 19 individual double-doubles in the team's 23 games played to start the 2021-22 season.
Joel Scott has tallied a BHSU DII record 16 double-doubles in his 23 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 24 career double-doubles at BHSU, with a career-high 16 double-doubles this season after recording the feat four times in each his freshman and sophomore campaigns.
Adam Moussa recorded the first three double-doubles of his career this season, doing so on 11/24 at MSU Billings, 1/14 at Western Colorado, and 2/12 at N.M. Highlands.
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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