RAPID CITY, S.D. – Making the first start of his collegiate career, Joel Speckman posted a 16-point, ten-rebound double-double for the Black Hills State University Men's Basketball team on Friday night at the King Center. However, strong shooting from Augustana lifted the Vikings past the Yellow Jackets, 76-70, in a neutral site clash in the first game of the East/West Challenge.

Speckman finished 7-15 from the field on his way to 16 tallies, leading all players in rebounding with ten, including three offensive, and steals with four.

Matthew Ragsdale poured in a team-best 21 points on 52.9% shooting to go with three boards, two assists, and a steal.

Ronnail Tape rounded out a trio of Yellow Jackets in double-figures, scoring an efficient ten points on four-of-five, two-for-three from long distance.

Off the bench, Myles Johnson added eight points, and Deegan Williams recorded a game-high six helpers.

Jadan Graves paced all players with 26 points with a .667/.600/.875 shooting line for Augie. Isaac Fink pitched in 16 tallies and was tied with Brady Helgren with a team-best six caroms while Sam Rensch went 4-of-5 shooting on his way to 11 points off the pine for the Vikings.

Black Hills State shot the ball at a quality rate, finishing with a 48.3% field goal percentage as a team, although they only went 5-for-16 from deep and 7-of-11 from the line. Augustana, meanwhile, connected on 55.1% of their shots, their best mark in the five years of East/West Challenge competition. They also made seven of their 15 three-point attempts, and 15-of-18 from the charity stripe.

The defenses ruled early in this contest. Augie opened by connecting on five of their first ten shot attempts from the field prior to the under-12 media timeout, but they also committed four turnovers in that span. The Yellow Jackets, meanwhile, began 2-of-7, but remained within an arms-length until a Johnson putback off his own miss sparked an eight-point burst to take the advantage with 11 minutes left in the first half.

BHSU caught fire the remainder of the stanza. They scored on six-consecutive turns down the floor out of the under-12 break, opening up an eight-point edge in the process. The Vikings chipped away, working it back to within a point after Fink was fouled on a three-point attempt and converted all of his attempts at the line with 4:33 remaining in the half. Johnson got three points the old-fashioned way for the Yellow Jackets, igniting another burst of six-straight possessions with a score that included Jackson Edman's first collegiate points, a Speckman and-one, and five points from Ragsdale. Augustana refused to go away, however, and despite the BHSU jolt, they were still within single digits at the half, 41-33.

Black Hills State connected on 56.7% of their shot attempts in the first half with Speckman tallying 13 points to lead the way. Ragsdale pitched in ten while Williams was a key catalyst distributing five assists.

Augie was also efficient from the field, making 48.0% of their shots, led by Graves who had 15 by making five of his eight attempts.

The teams would trade baskets across the first 7:02 of the second half, before a Fink layup and back-to-back triples by Fink and Rensch, with a Johnson free throw mixed in for BH, cut the deficit to one. The Yellow Jackets would maintain the edge until the nine-minute mark when buckets by Graves and Rensch tied the score and put the Vikings in front respectively. Those were a part of a 9-0 stretch to claim a lead they would never relinquish.

Back-to-back Ragsdale scores got Black Hills State within three, but they would get no closer thanks to Augustana making eight of their ten free throw attempts across the final 3:32.

While the Yellow Jackets made 40% of their shots in the second half, Augie connected on 62.5% of their looks including five-of-seven from long range to complete the comeback.

BHSU will return to the King Center to finish the East/West Challenge with a clash against MSU Moorhead on Saturday beginning at 5:00 PM.