No. 17 Black Hills State men's basketball is ready to tip-off its 2023-24 season this weekend, hosting the Conference Challenge.

The men will be taking on Oklahoma Christian on Friday, Nov. 10 at 7 p.m. before hosting Arkansas Fort Smith on Saturday, Nov. 11 at 6 p.m.

In addition to their two home games this weekend, BHSU will also play host to a pair of neutral games as part of the Conference Challenge. MSU Denver will play UAFS on Friday, Nov. 10 at 5 p.m. and OCU on Saturday, Nov. 11 at 4 p.m.

The Yellow Jackets are coming off of back-to-back NCAA DII Final Four runs, and now enter the year with a new-look team which includes 10 newcomers. On the preseason polls, BHSU was picked to finish fourth in the RMAC, and sits at No. 13 on the CBB Nation Top-25 and No. 17 on the NABC Coaches Poll.

 

No. 17 Black Hills State  vs.  Oklahoma Christian   FRIDAY, NOV. 10 // 7 P.M. // SPEARFISH, S.D. // DONALD E. YOUNG CENTER Live Stream / Live Stats / Radio / Game Notes / Tickets

 

FRIDAY vs. OKLAHOMA CHRISTIAN
The Lions are coming off a 9-19 season last year, and finished 5-17 in the Lone Star Conference. This will be their third meeting all time, with BHSU winning both other matchups, 80-73 last season, and 76-73 the year before.

EAGLES' LAST TIME OUT
Oklahoma Christian wrapped up its season tonight with a battle against the Lions of Fort Smith.

The Eagles and Lions traded baskets early in the first half, with the Eagles taking a 13-12 lead eight minutes into the game. Antonio Gordon had 6 of the 13 points, and Gordon and Drew Tennial opened the game with back-to-back threes.

The Lions scored six unanswered after the Eagles took the lead, but Gordon hit another three to stop the initial run and make it an 18-16 game. UAFS responded and closed the half on a 7-2 run to take a 25-18 lead into the break.

Gordon had nine points, and Shane Perales added 4 points to lead the Eagles in the first half. Also of note, the Eagles were down two starters, as Moun'Tae Edmundson and Karlyn Kenner missed tonight's game.

The OC offense sparked in the second half as they scored 33 points in the second half. UAFS' offense also turned up, and they tried to expand the lead in the second half.

OC continued to battle by cutting the lead to 7 points with 3:19 remaining on a D.J. Walter three. Walter scored 8 of his 10 points in the second half to lead the Eagles' offense.

Fort Smith used free throws to hold onto the game and win 61-51 in Arkansas.

LAST MATCHUP: BHSU vs. OCU (Nov. 12, 2022)
Black Hills State men's basketball defeated Oklahoma Christian, 80-73 Saturday night to wrap up the 2022 Lone Star/Rocky Mountain Challenge.

The Yellow Jackets (2-0) totaled 15 3-pointers as a team, and shot over 47 percent from the field.

PJ Hayes led the offense with 22 points, going 7-of-9 from deep. Matthew Ragsdale followed with 21 points.

Adam Moussa led with nine boards to go along with a team-high six assists and 13 points.

Joel Scott scored 14 points and grabbed seven rebounds, while Jaeton Hackley tallied four assists.

BHSU got out to a hot start with a pair of threes from Hayes and a Ragsdale trey to pull out to a 12-5 advantage.

OCU would storm back, though, taking a lead midway through the first, 15-14, and would hang around over the next several minutes to hold a 31-27 lead with 3:31 to go in the half. But back-to-back threes from Ragsdale and Hayes put the Yellow Jackets back on top, taking a 39-33 into the half and lead the rest of the way.

The men kept pressure on out of the break with another Hayes triple to start the second before a Moussa layup a few minutes later put the BHSU advantage at 50-39 with 16:34 remaining.

The threes continued down the stretch as big shots from Ragsdale and Moussa kept the Yellow Jackets ahead with a comfortable lead. In the final minutes, free throws from Scott, Hayes and Moussa would seal the 80-73 win.

 

No. 17 Black Hills State  vs.  Arkansas Fort Smith   SATURDAY, NOV. 11 // 6 P.M. // SPEARFISH, S.D. // DONALD E. YOUNG CENTER Live Stream / Live Stats / Radio / Game Notes / Tickets

SATURDAY vs. ARKANSAS FORT SMITH
UAFS finished the 2022-23 season with a 12-16 overall record, and 8-14 in the LSC. BHSU is 2-1 all-time against the Lions, having won each of the last two years, 77-62 in 2021-22 and 73-49 last season.

LIONS' LAST TIME OUT
University of Arkansas - Fort Smith Men's Basketball capped its season with a win Thursday, defeating Oklahoma Christian, 61-51, at Gayle Kaundart Arena at the Stubblefield Center.
After a fast start by both teams, the Lions settled in at the midway point of the first half, taking the lead on a layup by forward Jaxon Ingram and never looking back.

That started a 6-0 run for the Lions, who later went on a 7-0 run to lead 25-16 and head into the locker room with a 25-18 lead. UAFS held the Eagles to 24.0 percent shooting in the first half.

The Lions built the lead up to double digits in the opening minutes of the second half, growing the lead to 14 points on a three by guard Drew Miller.

Oklahoma Christian hung around, getting the deficit back to single digits with less than six minutes remaining, but was never able to trim the lead to fewer than seven points.

The Lions closed the game out by going 7-for-10 at the charity stripe and guard Cameron Bush put an exclamation point on the game with a breakaway two-handed dunk.

Bush finished with 13 points and five rebounds, and four steals while guard Payton Brown tallied a team-high 15 points, going 9-for-9 from the line. Miller was the third Lion in double figures with 10 points. Ingram chipped in eight points and nine boards as a reserve, while guard Evan Anderson dished out five assists.

UAFS forced 21 turnovers – including a season-high 13 steals – and had a 16-5 advantage in points off turnovers. The Lions had 12 offensive rebounds, leading to 10 second chance points. UAFS also had a 24-14 edge in points in the paint.

LAST MATCHUP: BHSU vs. UAFS (Nov. 11, 2022)
Black Hills State men's basketball opened the 2022-23 season with a 73-49 victory over Arkansas Fort Smith on Friday night.

The Yellow Jackets (1-0) made 11 threes, all coming in the first half to help them shoot at a 42.3 percent clip from beyond the arc.

Joel Scott and Matthew Ragsdale let the offense, totaling 23 and 13 points respectively. Scott added eight rebounds, two assists and two steals, while Ragsdale grabbed three boards.

Adam Moussa dished out a team-high seven assists to go with his 10 points and three rebounds.

PJ Hayes was also in double-digit scoring with 12 points.

The offense came out hot, taking a 16-7 lead on a Moussa jumper at 13:39 in the first, and then 19-11 on a Hayes 3-pointer midway through the half.

UAFS scored six straight from there to pull to within two (19-17) before a Hayes layup and back-to-back threes from Ragsdale gave BHSU its first double-digit lead at 27-17. After a UAFS free throw, the Yellow Jackets rattled off a 10-0 run behind threes from Hayes and Scott to extend to a 37-18 lead with 5:27 to go in the first.

Teams traded shots the rest of the half as BHSU went into the break on a Ragsdale three to hold a 48-27 advantage.

Out of the break, baskets from Scott and Ragsdale and a Hayes dunk made it 55-33 five minutes into the second. The Yellow Jackets held their margin of victory the rest of the way, using a 3-point play from Scott midway through the half to make it 62-40.
Down the stretch, free throws from Dukic and Moussa would eventually seal the win, 73-49.

YELLOW JACKETS' LAST TIME OUT
Black Hills State men's basketball fell just short Thursday afternoon, falling to No. 2 West Liberty, 87-82.

The Yellow Jackets (29-6, 18-4 RMAC) finish the season with the most wins in a season since joining Division II, and have now made back-to-back NCAA Final Four appearances and

Joel Scott scored 30 on his way to his 16th double-double of the season, going along with 13 rebounds and a pair of blocks.

PJ Hayes added 17 points, going 5-of-8 from deep, and grabbing five boards.

Jaeton Hackley and Sindou Cisse also finished in double-figure scoring, totaling 11 and 10, respectively. Hackley dished three assists and tallied four rebounds while Cisse had nine boards and five assists.

Matthew Ragsdale hit a trio of threes scoring nine and corralling two rebounds. Hoku Fisher also scored a three and Ryker Cisarik added two from the floor.

West Liberty took a quick 6-1 lead early before a Ragsdale 3-pointer made it 6-4. From there, WLU stretched out to 12-5 with under 16 to go.

Back-to-back Hackley driving layups led to six straight from the freshman, drawing BHSU back to within one, 12-11 with 14:22 left in the half. The Hilltoppers stretched their lead back out to 17-11, before a Scott 3-point play and Hayes three kept BHSU close, 20-18 midway through the first.

The game of runs continued, as eight straight from WLU extended the Hilltoppers to a 10-point lead, 28-18. Back-and-forth play too over from there, with a pair of buckets from Scott to keep pace as the game saw a 37-26 WLU lead with 3:58 to go before the break.

A triple from Hayes and a Cisarik put-back in the final minutes sent the Yellow Jackets to the locker room, trailing 47-31.

A Cisse layup and Ragsdale three right out of the break chipped away at the Hilltopper lead, making it 47-36. WLU outscored BHSU 10-3 over the next few minutes, though, to take a 57-39 lead with 16:31 to go.

BHSU answered with a Hackley layup and Scott 3-point play, to get back within 15, 59-44. But WLU wouldn't let up, extending to an 18-point lead, 63-45 with 13:54 remaining.

From there, a Hayes triple and a pair of Scott layups cut the deficit to 11 points, 66-55 with 11:03 to go. A Hoku Fisher triple with under 10 minutes left made it a 10-point game, 70-60 on the next possession.

Later a Scott layup would draw BHSU within single digits for the first time in the second half, 77-68 with 5:26 on the clock. A Ragsdale three a few possessions later and a pair of Scott free throws cut it to a six-point game, 80-74 as the game entered its final three minutes.

A Hilltopper layup with 1:39 to go put them ahead 82-74, but Hayes answered with a trey to pull the Yellow Jackets within five, 82-77.

In the final minute of play, free throws from Hayes made it a one-possession game with 4.9 seconds to go, 85-82, but WLU would hang on to win, 87-82.

MATCHUP HISTORY
This will be the third time the Yellow Jackets have face OCU, sitting 2-0 all-time against them. It will be the fourth matchup with UAFS (2-1).

YELLOW JACKETS RANKED
In the preseason polls this year, the Yellow Jackets have been ranked at No. 13 in the CBB Nation Top-25 National Preseason Poll, and No. 17 in the Preseason NABC Coaches Poll.

BHSU was also picked to finish fourth in the RMAC Preseason Coaches Poll.

A BHSU LOSS WOULD...
Give them an 0-1 start to the year for the first time since 2021 when they fell to then No. 22 Colorado Mesa 75-70 on Dec. 11.

RECORDS/MILESTONES
Matthew Ragsdale will be one of BHSU's top point scorers this year after totaling 472 points last season, falling just shy of the all-time top-10 list for points in a season.

Caelin Hearne's 3-pt percentage of .452 last year put him fifth all-time for BHSU in a season with the record being .517 set by Adam Moussa in 2020-21.

Head Coach Ryan Thompson won his 100th game as head coach this last season, becoming just the 4th head coach in program history to reach 100 victories, and is the quickest to do so.

With a career coaching record of 104-41, his .717 winning percentage is the highest in school history among coaches who have managed at least 50 games.

NEW FACES, NEW PLACES
With only seven returning members from last year's second-consecutive Final Four team, the 2023-24 Yellow Jackets have brought in 10 new faces. Of the seven returning, two were redshirt freshmen in Cameron Jackson and Ty Nettles.

Of the 10 newcomers, six are transfers, including four juniors and two sophomores, and four are incoming freshmen.

COACHES
Head coach Ryan Thompson is entering his sixth season leading the Yellow Jackets, having taken the program to back-to-back NCAA DII Final Fours, and the RMAC tournament each of the last five years.

Lions Head Coach Zane Gibson enters his first year leading UAFS after previously coaching at Western New Mexico and UT Permian Basin.

The OCU Eagles are coached by Kendre Talley, a former standout with the program, who is entering his fourth season leading the team.