FRIDAY vs. NEW MEXICO HIGHLANDS
New Mexico Highlands has had a decent start to the season, sitting at 5-4, 2-2 in conference play. They have a really impressive victory on their resume as they handed #20/RV Angelo State their only loss of the season in the second game of the year. They opened RMAC play by beating Colorado Christian but had trouble last weekend falling to #17/24 Fort Lewis and Adams State last weekend.

The Cowboys generally rank in the middle of the pack in the RMAC in most statistical categories, but there are some aspects in which they standout. They rank eighth in the conference, scoring 75.8 points per game, but they are a very deep team as they're second in the league, and 12^th in the nation receiving 38.0 points per game from their reserves, a group that includes their leading scorer Kenard Richardson who averages 10.9 points per contest despite only having one start on the year. You also have to box out defensively as NMHU is third in the RMAC securing 11.88 offensive rebounds per game. Defensively, the Cowboys allow 75.0 points per game, ranking 12^th in the league, but they tend to make the big plays as they're third in steals (8.6) and fourth in blocks (3.2) per matchup.

The Cowboys do not have a single player ranked in the top 250 in scoring nationally, or the top-25 in the RMAC, however, they can strike from anywhere with eight players averaging five or more points per game and eight with at least one double-digit scoring performance this season. Richardson leads their offensive attack shooting .446 from the field and .474 from three. He's joined by two teammates averaging double-digits with AC Curry at 10.8 and Kyrie Thomas at 10.4 per contest. Curry is their leader in steals securing 1.9 per game while Thomas is their top distributer at 2.4 assists per game. Ezichi Kalu is their fourth-leading scorer at 8.1 points per game, but he's also their top rebounder (9.3, 3.0 offensive) and shot blocker (1.1).

COWBOYS' LAST TIME OUT
ALAMOSA, Colo. - Despite a ferocious second half comeback, the New Mexico Highlands men's basketball team lost at Adams State 78-71 on Saturday evening. With the loss the Cowboys are now 5-4 overall and 2-2 in the RMAC. Adams State improves to 3-7 overall and 1-3 in conference play.

Adams State jumped out to a 45-28 lead at halftime on Saturday. The Cowboys stormed all the way back and took the lead 58-57 on a three pointer by Jaylen Domina-Lovato at the 9:22 mark of the second half. They would push that lead to as many as six points, but Adams State reclaimed the lead for good with just under 2:00 minutes to go at 70-69.

A trio of Cowboys scored in double-digits on Saturday led by Kyrie Thomas who had 15 points and five assists in the game. AC Curry and Kenard Richardson scored 13 and 12 points respectively. For the fifth time this season, Ezichi Kalu posted a double-digit effort in rebounds with 11 this evening.

NMHU shot 38% from the floor and 72% from the free throw line and out rebounded Adams State 43-40.

The Cowboys return home hosting Black Hills State on Friday and South Dakota Mines on Saturday. Both games are scheduled for 7:00 pm tip-offs.

LAST MATCHUP: BHSU vs. NEW MEXICO HIGHLANDS (Jan. 20, 2023)
LAS VEGAS, N.M. – Black Hills State men's basketball used a huge second half to roll past New Mexico Highlands, 82-57 Friday night.

The Yellow Jackets (15-1, 9-1 RMAC) finished the night shooting at a 53.2 percent clip from the field and 41.7 percent from deep and would outscore the Cowboys 47-26 in the second half.

Joel Scott led the scoring attack with 23 points and 11 rebounds for his eighth double-double of the season. He also tallied a block and three steals.

Matthew Ragsdale added 19 points, going 8-of-16 from the field and 3-of-6 from deep to go along with four rebounds and six assists.

PJ Hayes went 3-of-5 from beyond the arc and tallied 13 points, seven rebounds and a steal.

Caelin Hearne and John Shanklin each tallied eight points on the night.

Both teams were slow to start the game before Ragsdale opened the scoring with a 3-pointer three minutes into the game. Shortly after, he drained another triple to help put BHSU ahead 8-3 with 15:55 left in the first.

After trading buckets over the next few possessions, NMHU would take a 13-12 lead with a triple at 13:08. Back-and-forth play took over again from there, and the Cowboys held the advantage until Hayes drilled a 3-pointer to even the game 29-all with 4:19 to go.

Then, entering the final minute of play in the first, Hearne hit a 3-pointer from the corner to put the Yellow Jackets back ahead 32-29 and they wouldn't trail the rest of the way. In the closing seconds, Hayes hit one final three to send BHSU into the locker room with a 35-31 lead.

The Yellow Jackets came out of the break on fire, rattling off an 18-4 scoring run with the help of dunks from Hayes and Scott over the opening five minutes of the half to extend to a 53-35 lead.

Then a Hearne three and a Sava Dukic layup gave BHSU it's first 20-point lead, making the score 58-37 with 13:13 left on the clock.

The Yellow Jackets wouldn't let up from there as a Shanklin dunk, and layups from Scott and Ragsdale over the next several minutes made it a 73-46 game with 4:28 remaining.

Down the stretch, six points from Shanklin and a Hoku Fisher triple eventually sealed the 82-37 victory.

Up Next
The Yellow Jackets head to Pueblo, Colo. to take on the ThunderWolves on Saturday, Jan. 21 at 7:30 p.m.

YELLOW JACKETS' LAST TIME OUT
SPEARFISH, S.D. – The Black Hills State University men's basketball team finalized their 2023 slate of games on their home floor falling to the RV Colorado School of Mines, 82-72, on Saturday evening at A2 Arena in the Donald E. Young Center.

With the loss, BHSU finishes their very difficult weekend slate with a split, moving to 4-6, 2-2 against RMAC foes. Mines, on the other hand, advanced to 7-3, 3-1 against conference competition.

After tearing up MSU Denver to the tune of 32 points on Friday, Matthew Ragsdale kept on humming on Saturday scoring a game-high 29 points on 11-20 shooting, although just 3-10 from deep. He also distributed a team-best two assists. Ragsdale's 61 points across the last two games is the most since Joel Scott put up 63 in consecutive contests on March 4^th and 5^th of 2022 against UCCS and Regis respectively.

Caelin Hearne enjoyed a nice evening with 15 points for the Yellow Jackets on 7-14 shooting in addition to four rebounds, half of them on offense, and a block.

Joel Speckman contributed seven points and seven boards, including a career-best four on the offensive end.

Ronnail Tape pitched in nine points off the bench with Hoku Fisher collecting a career and game-high 11 caroms.

Cade Mankle was tremendous for the Orediggers, pouring in a career-high 28 points on 11-18 shooting. He also distributed a game-best three assists.

Sam Beskind added a baker's dozen to go with a team-high six rebounds for the guests.

Off the bench, Adam Krasovec tallied nine points and Reagan Koch pitched in seven.

As a team, the Yellow Jackets shot a solid 48.3% from the field, but only connected on six of their 19 threes. The Orediggers made 49.2% of their attempts but shot a season-best 53.3% (8-15) from distance and made 16 of their 20 attempts from the charity stripe. That plus a 22-12 edge in points off the bench made the difference for the visitors.

The game would open with a punch, counterpunch feel. Ragsdale initiated the scoring with a three, then four-straight for Mines, four-straight for BHSU, five in a row for the guests, and a layup from Speckman bringing things even at nine apiece. The Orediggers followed with a ten-point outburst spanning either side of the under-12 timeout, with all of their points coming in the paint and four of them on the fastbreak.

Tape would break the spell with a triple for Black Hills State, then Myles Johnson would split a pair from the line and grab a steal and throw down a dunk on the other end in a six-point spurt for the hosts. A Juani Dassie three ended the run and the game settled into a holding pattern for the following three minutes. The teams traded buckets with Mines maintaining a two or three possession edge throughout. Their lead stood at eight at the seven-minute mark before the Yellow Jackets made their move. Seven-straight points from BHSU was countered by seven consecutive by CSM. The hosts then got eight in a row including threes from Ragsdale and Tape to break even, but a Koch jumper closed out the scoring in the half with Mines holding a 37-35 edge.

Ragsdale led all scorers with a dozen at the break, shooting four-of-eight to the field along with one steal. Speckman added seven points for BHSU along with six rebounds, including four on the offensive end, and one block.

Mankle led the guests with ten points on five-for-seven shooting and was the only player for either team with multiple assists at the break, dishing out two helpers.

Colorado Mines shot 51.6% from the field in the half, including four-of-six from deep, while they held BHSU to just 41.9% shooting in the stanza, 4-11 from range. However, the Yellow Jackets' six offensive rebounds and six points off them, in addition to their 12-7 edge in points off turnovers, kept the game tight at the half.

The first six and a half minutes of the second half were uneventful. There was plenty of scoring, but Colorado Mines never relinquished the lead, Black Hills State never allowed it to get outside of two possessions, and it was a five-point game before the Orediggers began to pull away. The visitors would score 14 of the next 19 points with the under-12-minute timeout mixed in, staking themselves to a 65-51 advantage with nine and a half remaining.

The Yellow Jackets refused to back down with Ragsdale and Hearne doing everything in their power to will BHSU back into the game, but every time it appeared the hosts would build momentum, the guests made a big play or hit a clutch shot to curb the run. CSM saw their lead max out at 15 while not allowing Black Hills State to get inside of two possessions the rest of the way as they held on for the win, 82-72

Ragsdale pilled up 17 of his points in the second half, with Hearne adding 13, but they did not get much help in the comeback attempt that fell short despite shooting 55.6% from the field as a team.

CSM had a duo of their own holding off the Yellow Jacket comeback with Mankle scoring 18 in the half, and Beskind adding 13, six of which came from the line. As a team, the Orediggers made 15 of their whopping 19 attempts from the free throw line to hold on for the win.

Black Hills State will conclude the 2023 portion of their schedule when they travel to Las Vegas to battle New Mexico Highlands on Friday. Tipoff is set for 7 PM.

MATCHUP HISTORY
The Yellow Jackets are 9-7 all-time against New Mexico Highlands but have enjoyed a lot of success lately. BHSU has won eight of the last ten matchups including a sweep a season ago, winning 83-70 in Spearfish in December and 82-57 in Las Vegas in January.

A BHSU WIN WOULD...
Improve BHSU to 9-2 in the Ryan Thompson era against NMHU, matching MSU Denver and UCCS for the most wins BHSU has against an RMAC foe under Thompson.

A BHSU LOSS WOULD...
Move BHSU to 4-7, three games under .500 entering the holiday break for the first time since 2016-17 when they BHSU was 5-8 at the break.

TAIL OF THE TAPE
Ronnail Tape has averaged 10.25 points per game on .591/.600/.750 as a reserve for BHSU (6.0 on .491/.333/.750 as a starter). His contributions are a big reason why the Yellow Jackets have averaged 20.25 points per game off the bench in that span, against just 13.3 prior.

THE NEW JOEL
In his four games as a starter this season, Joel Speckman is averaging 8.2 points and 5.8 rebounds (2.7 offensive) per game shooting .538 (21-39) in those games.

He averages just 3.25 points and 3.75 rebounds as a reserve.

MATHEW RAGSDALE NOTES
No fancy headline required here as Matthew Ragsdale has been outstanding this season for BHSU. The leading scorer in the RMAC, Ragsdale has 206 points this season and 1987 in his career. Ragsdale will become the 16^th player in RMAC history to eclipse 2000 (1309 at Western Colorado, 678+ at BHSU) career points.

POINTS UNTIL 2000: 13

Ragsdale also has a chance to score 1000 points in his Yellow Jackets career. If he does so, it is believed that he will be the first to do so at the DII level all time. (Per NCAA)

POINTS UNTIL 1000 at BHSU: 322

Ragsdale scored 32 points on Friday against MSU Denver, his most as a Yellow Jacket, following it up with 29 against Colorado Mines. His 61 points across the two games is the most since Joel Scott put up 63 in consecutive contests on March 4th and 5th of 2022 against UCCS and Regis respectively.

RECENT TRENDS
-Ronnail Tape is averaging 10.25 points per game as a reserve, for details, see above.  

-Matthew Ragsdale is averaging 25.7 points, shooting .600 (30-50) from the field with 3.7 rebounds and 2.3 assists per game in that span.

-Caelin Hearne is averaging 11.0 points and 4.3 rebounds per game over his last six games. (6.5 and 2.0 respectively prior).

AGAINST NMHU
- Matthew Ragsdale averages 18.5 PPG in four career games vs. NMHU with a .475/.429/.833 shooting line in those games. His 6.25 RPG and 3.25 APG against Highlands is his highest mark against any RMAC opponent.

-Caelin Hearne played meaningful minutes in just the second matchup between BHSU and NMHU last season, scoring eight points on 3-6 (2-4 from three) with two assists, a steal and a rebound

-John Shanklin appeared in just the second game between BHSU and NMHU last season, scoring eight points on 4-6 shooting, with three rebounds and a block.

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.

Mike Dominguez is in his fifth season at the helm of the Cowboys men's basketball program, entering this year with a career record or 44-41. He was an assistant for NMHU prior to being elevated to head coach in 2019. Dominguez played his college ball at RMAC rival Colorado Mesa where he was an RMAC Player of the Year, DII All-American, and led the Mavericks to the NCAA Tournament in 2010. He spent 6 seasons at CMU as an assistant coach before moving on to NMHU.

-BHSUAthletics.com-