LAS VEGAS, N.M. – With a double-clutch three-pointer over two defenders off the left wing with 12 minutes and 15 seconds remaining in the second half, Matthew Ragsdale surpassed the 2,000-career points threshold as a part of a night of celebration for the Black Hills State University men's basketball team, as they defeated New Mexico Highlands University, 77-66, at the John A. Wilson Complex on Friday night.
 
With the win, the Yellow Jackets reach the unofficial halfway point in the season with a 5-6 record, 3-2 in RMAC play. The Cowboys, meanwhile, fall to .500 across their ten contests this season, 2-3 against conference foes.
 
Ragsdale becomes the 16^th playing in the history of the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference to score 2,000 or more points, joining former high school and Yellow Jacket teammate Joel Scott on that list. The first 1,309 points came during his time with Western Colorado University through the first three years of his collegiate career, while he now stands with 699 as a Yellow Jacket after scoring 21 points in the contest.
 
In addition to his scoring, which led all players, Ragsdale matched a season-high with four assists and grabbed four rebounds for BHSU.
 
Hoku Fisher matched a career-high in scoring with 18 points for the Yellow Jackets, including four in four attempts from the free throw line. He also distributed a career-high five assists, snagged a team-high eight rebounds, recorded his first career multi-block game, and grabbed a steal.
 
Coming off the bench for the first time this season, Caelin Hearne excelled, scoring 14 points in the win, making a season-high four three pointers. He added six caroms to go with two blocks and three steals, both of which are career-best marks.

The Yellow Jackets post tandem of John Shanklin and Joel Speckman also played well. Shanklin finished with six points, five boards, two of them offensive, a steal and a block while Speckman accumulated nine points and seven rebounds off the bench.

Messiah Turner led a trio of Cowboys in double-figures with 15 points on 5-of-11 from the field.

AC Curry contributed a dozen although he needed 13 shots to get there. He added seven caroms and a team-high two assists.

Nathan Hasberry finished with ten points in relief, making three of his four shot attempts from the field and snagging three steals.

Ezichi Kalu came up just short of a double-double, finishing with eight points and ten rebounds, two offensive, for the hosts.

BHSU's defense held NMHU's leading scorer coming in, Kenard Richardson to seven points on the night on just 2-of-14 shooting, 2-for-7 from three.

Overall, the Yellow Jackets held the Cowboys to a season-low in scoring with 66 points with their .357 field goal percentage, and .150 mark from range also being season-lows for NMHU. Black Hills State set a season-high for blocked shots, while their seven steals also matches their season-best mark thus far.

Offensively, BHSU connected on a serviceable 43.3% of their shot attempts, but they made them count as they cashed in on a season-high 12 three pointers. They also registered a season-best 15 assists as a team.

The defenses dominated through the first 13 minutes of this game. BHSU opened by making six of their first 18 shots including three of 12 from three while committing five turnovers, one of which was a NMHU steal. The Cowboys were buoyed by a bunch of offensive rebounds, but only hit seven of their first 27 shots, including two-for-ten from deep, turning the ball over four times, three of which were Yellow Jacket steals, and they had two shots blocked. As a result, neither team opened up much distance as it remained a one-possession contest throughout that span with the exception of a five-point edge, 16-11, that the hosts gained at the 10:38 mark with a layup from Hasberry.

It would be virtually all Black Hills State after the Hasberry layup as they dominated the second ten minutes of the half. Ronnail Tape buried a three and Shanklin tied things with a layup a moment later. Ragsdale made a pair from the charity stripe to claim a lead that they would ultimately never relinquish. The Yellow Jacket run was then briefly interrupted by Turner splitting a pair from the line. A Shanklin slam, Ragsdale trey, Speckman free throw, five-straight from Fisher, and a three from Hearne comprised of the BHSU side of what ended up as a 21-7 stretch to close the half with a 32-23 lead.

Fisher and Ragsdale paced BHSU with eight points each in the opening frame, with Curry matching that total for New Mexico Highlands. Unfortunately for the hosts, outside of Curry, only one player made more than one field goal, that being TJ Sanchez who had four tallies at the break while the Yellow Jackets also got six points from Shanklin, five from Hearne, and four from Tape in the half.

The late surge by the Yellow Jackets got their shooting percentage to a more visually appealing 39.3% in the first half and they did make the most of their made shots from the field, with six of their 11 coming from three-point range. They made their money on the defensive end, however, holding the Cowboys to just 10-37 from the field (27.0%) and 2-for-13 from range (15.4%) while accumulating three blocks and three steals.

New Mexico Highlands would look to close the gap early in the second half, scoring eight of the first ten points of the stanza, cutting the Yellow Jacket lead to three, but ultimately that's as close as they would get. After having the lone bucket of the NMHU run, Fisher finished a slick scoop layup and drew a foul for three-points the old-fashioned way, halting the run. BHSU used that as a launch for an 18-3 stretch across the next five minutes of game time. The final basket of the run was a Ragsdale three pointer at the 12:15 mark that represented the 1,999^th, 2,000^th, and 2,001^st points of his career, becoming the 16^th player in RMAC history to score 2,000 or more points in their career.

Out of a timeout, Highlands would score eight-straight to get back win ten, and they would eventually whittle the deficit down to five points with just under eight minutes remaining. However, Fisher converted his second and-one of the half to stop the run. Each team went scoreless for a spell before an Kalu layup got the score within six at the 5:05 mark, but Black Hills State responded with a 10-2 run including a pair of threes from Hearne, putting things out of reach as the Yellow Jackets finalized the 77-66 victory.

Ragsdale led all players with a baker's dozen in the second half with Fisher and Hearne adding ten and eight respectively, with their baskets coming at critical points. Turner tried to lead a comeback with 12 in the half, but it was not enough for the hosts.

Both offenses enjoyed much more success in the second half than the first, with BHSU seeing their field goal percentage rise to 46.9% and NMHU rise to 45.5%. However, the Yellow Jackets connected when it mattered from the free throw line going eight-of-nine, and also made seven threes against the Cowboys' one to hold off the comeback attempt.

Black Hills State will get a couple of weeks off for the holidays before returning to the hardwood to host Adams State at A2 Arena in the Donald E. Young Center on Friday, January 5^th. Tipoff is set for 7:00 PM.