No. 3/3 Black Hills State men's basketball hits the road for the second straight weekend, this time heading to Gunnison, Colo. to take on Western Colorado on Friday, Jan. 6 at 7:30 p.m.
BHSU remains third in the nation in both the NABC National Coaches Poll and the D2SIDA Media Poll, collecting two first-place votes on the NABC rankings. The team also remains first in the South Central Regional Poll with a 12-0 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 Mountaineers are losers of their last six as the team is still looking for its first RMAC win of the season. WCU last played on Saturday, Dec. 31 which resulted in a 79-63 loss to UCCS. The team sits last in the RMAC standings, and in scoring margin (-12.5) and scoring offense (63.6). Although WCU ranks at or near the bottom in several statistical categories, they can still rebound well, sitting fifth in the conference with an average of 36.7 rebounds per game and second in the league in offensive rebounds per game (10.6).
MATCHUP HISTORY
Historically, BHSU is 12-3 all-time against Western Colorado since 2012, having won the last six matchups and are winners of 12 of their last 13 meetings. The Yellow Jackets most recently beat them last season on Jan. 14, 2022, in a 98-92 victory.
Their first meeting of last season was their RMAC opener on Dec. 3, 2021, in which
Joel Scott of the Yellow Jackets and then Mountaineer
Matthew Ragsdale had historic games. Scott broke the BHSU school record for points in a game, finishing 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 pushed 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, now a Yellow Jacket as well, 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.
YELLOW JACKETS RANKED
After moving up in last week's polls, the Yellow Jackets remain ranked third in both the D2SIDA National Poll and the NABC National Poll, while also collecting two first-place votes. 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 (33.0), fourth in the nation in field goal percentage defense (37.5), and sixth in made 3-pointers per game (11.3).
The Yellow Jackets also sit ninth in 3-point percentage (42.1), 14th in fewest turnovers per game (10.6), and 16th in field goal percentage (50.2) and scoring margin (16.8).
As a team, BHSU leads the RMAC in eight key statistical categories, including field goal percentage, field goal percentage defense, defensive rebounds per game, scoring defense, scoring margin, three-point percentage, three-point percentage defense, and made threes per game, and is top-five in 16 categories.
A FRIDAY BHSU WIN WOULD...
Keep BHSU atop the RMAC standings and in the national rankings with a record of 13-0 overall and 7-0 RMAC, while continuing their historic start to the season.
A FRIDAY BHSU LOSS WOULD...
Put the Yellow Jackets at 12-1 overall to open the season, still the best start since 2008-09 when the team also 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.
Bradd Schafer is in his ninth year as head coach of the Mountaineers. He began there in 2014 after spending the previous eight at Black Hills State, four as head coach after four years as an assistant for the Yellow Jackets.
YELLOW JACKETS' LAST TIME OUT
Black Hills State men's basketball rolled past Adams State, 84-64 Friday night.
The Yellow Jackets (12-0, 6-0 RMAC) had an excellent night shooting the ball with a 51.7 percent clip from the field, and a slightly better 51.9 percent from deep – good for the ninth-best single-game 3-point percentage in program history.
BHSU had six different players with 3-pointers, and also had 5 double-digit scorers in the game.
Matthew Ragsdale led the scoring attack with 19, going 5-of-7 from beyond the arc, and 7-of-11 from the field. He added five rebounds and two assists.
Joel Scott recorded his third-consecutive double-double, and fifth of the season, with 12 points and 11 rebounds to go along with a block and an assist.
Adam Moussa flirted with a triple-double with 12 points, nine rebounds and a team-high seven assists. Defensively, he tallied a steal and a block.
Jaeton Hackley finished with 15 points and
Caelin Hearne accrued 10 on the night.
Ryker Cisarik grabbed eight boards while knocking down seven points.
Down 11-8 after trading buckets in the opening minutes, a 10-0 spurt, which included Moussa's third 3-pointer of the game, helped the Yellow Jackets out to an 18-11 advantage with 14:09 to go in the first.
Back-and-forth play returned from there until a Ragsdale triple and a Hackley floater extended the BHSU lead to 26-18 midway through the half. A
Sava Dukic three followed, giving the Yellow Jackets their first double-digit lead of the game, 29-18 with 7:37 remaining.
Minutes later, more threes from Ragsdale and Moussa fueled a 14-4 run that was capped by a Hackley layup, giving BHSU its first 20-point lead, 48-28, before heading to the locker room with a 50-31 lead.
A Scott hook shot and Ragsdale trey out of the break put BHSU up by as many as 23 points, but nine unanswered from ASU helped them inch back and make it 57-43 with under 14 to play.
The three-point barrage from the Yellow Jackets continued as triples from Ragsdale and Hearne helped push the lead to 66-47 as the clock ticked under 10 minutes to play.
Ragsdale's fifth 3-pointer of the game at 6:28 put BHSU back out to a 20-point advantage, 71-51. The Grizzlies answered with 10 straight points with four minutes to go, though, drawing back to within ten (71-61) for the first time since 3:37 in the first.
However, a three-point play from Hackley and a Cisarik dunk helped BHSU regain its cushion and ultimately ice the game for the 84-64 victory.
MOUNTAINEERS' LAST TIME OUT
Western Colorado's Avery Rembao and Robel Desta combined for 42 points against visiting University of Colorado Colorado Springs, but the visiting Mountain Lions withstood the two-headed Mountaineer attack to earn a 79-63 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference men's basketball victory Saturday at Paul Wright Gym.
Rembao's 22 points led all scorers while Desta was next in line with 20.
Western fell into a double-digit hole (17-7) a little more than five minutes into the game, and later trailed by 20 (37-17) before trimming down the deficit to 15 (46-31) at the halftime break.
The tone of the game changed, however, in the opening moments after recess as the Mountaineers started the half with an 8-0 run to pull within seven, 46-39.
Back-to-back 3-pointers by Kade Juelfs and Desta initiated the run, with Rembao dropping in a layup to finish off the unanswered string.
The Mountain Lions responded with a 6-0 run of their own to regain the double-digit gap, 52-39, before the two teams combined for a scoreless 4 minutes and 6 seconds, a span finally ended on a pair of Gino Corridori free throws.
Western clawed back to within seven again, this time at 53-46, nearing the midpoint of the second half, but UCCS outscored the Mountaineers 26-17 the rest of the way to stave off any other Western rallies.
LAST MATCHUP: BHSU vs. WCU (Jan. 14, 2021)
Black Hills State men's basketball defeated Western Colorado, 98-92 Friday night behind a handful of career performances.
The Yellow Jackets (10-4, 8-1 RMAC) scored a season-high 98 points as a team and had two double-double performances while three scored over 20.
Adam Moussa finished with a career-best 32 points and 11 rebounds as he recorded his second double-double of the season. He also had an assist and a steal.
Joel Scott tallied his 11th double-double of the season with 28 points and 12 rebounds.
Sava Dukic also scored a career-best with his 27 points, going 6-of-16 from the field and a perfect 9-of-9 at the free throw line.
PJ Hayes grabbed five boards, and
Ryder Kirsch,
Tommy Donovan and
Ryker Cisarik each grabbed four.
After an early WCU lead, a Scott dunk followed by a trey and layup from Moussa evened the score at 10-10. Back-and-forth play continued in the opening minutes of the first half which featured three ties and four lead changes.
As the first half ticked past the midway point, BHSU rattled off a 12-0 scoring run capped by seven straight from Moussa to take a double-digit lead, 26-16. Both offenses cooled off from there and the Mountaineers worked their way back, trailing only 31-30 entering the final minute of the half.
The Yellow Jackets came out firing to start the second half, outscoring WCU 14-5 to extend their lead to 49-37, but the Mountaineers didn't quit, eventually re-tying the game at 51-all using a big run of their own.
Both teams traded buckets over the next few minutes of play, tying the game four more times before BHSU outscored WCU 12-1 to take a 73-65 lead with 6:38 remaining.
The Yellow Jackets would hold the advantage 86-77 following a Scott trey as the clock ticked into the final minute before going 12-of-14 down the stretch from the charity stripe to seal the 98-92 victory.
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:
415
-BHSUAthletics.com-
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