No. 2/3 Black Hills State men's basketball is back in Spearfish for its final home weekend of the regular season, taking on No. 9/11 Fort Lewis on Friday, Feb. 17 at 7 p.m. before tipping off against Adams State on Saturday, Feb. 18 at 5 p.m.
 
The latest polls have BHSU moving up to second in the nation in the NABC Coaches Poll and remaining at third in the D2SIDA Media Poll. The team remains first in the South Central Regional Poll with the team's 20-1 start to the year, which is the best start to a season in program history, besting the 2008-09 team who started 12-1.

 

No. 2/3 Black Hills State  vs.  No. 9/11 Fort Lewis   FRIDAY, FEB. 17 // 7 P.M. // SPEARFISH, S.D. // DONALD E. YOUNG CENTER Live Stream / Live Stats / Radio / Game Notes / Tickets

FRIDAY vs. No. 9/11 FORT LEWIS
The Skyhawks are winners of their last seven dating back to a January 21 win over Westminster, including Mondays win over BHSU. Their two losses this season have come from Westminster in December and No. 23 Colorado Mesa in January.
 
FLC is currently the leading scoring team in the RMAC and is 14th in the nation, averaging 85.3 points per game. They are also sixth in the nation in fewest turnovers per game (9.4) and 16th in DII in turnover margin (4.2).

The Yellow Jackets are 5-6 all-time against Fort Lewis after Monday's meeting, although BHSU has won five of their last six matchups.
 
YELLOW JACKETS' LAST TIME OUT
Black Hills State men's basketball used a strong second half to nearly offset an impressive start by No. 10/12 Fort Lewis, as they fell 88-78 Monday night.
 
The Yellow Jackets (22-2, 16-2 RMAC) held the Skyhawks to just 32.1 percent from the field in the second half while themselves shooting at a 52.6 percent clip, after allowing a 69.7 percent effort by FLC in the first half.
 
Joel Scott set the all-time BHSU scoring record Monday night with a layup for his 16th point of the game, before finishing with 26 points, 11 rebounds, a block and a steal for his 11th double-double of the season.
 
Adam Moussa scored 19 to go with six rebounds, five assists and two steals.
 
Sindou Cisse also had a well-rounded night after missing a pair of games due to injury, tallying six points, seven rebounds and five assists in his return.
 
Caelin Hearne went 5-of-6 from the field and 2-of-3 from deep to finish with 12 points.
 
FLC scored nine unanswered to open the game as their offense was hot out of the gates. BHSU would fall behind 28-8 minutes later and eventually trail by as many as 26 (51-25) with under four minutes left in the first.
 
In the final minutes before the break, buckets from Hayes, Cisse and Moussa helped the Yellow Jackets take some momentum into the locker room, trailing 55-31.
 
Threes from Scott and Ragsdale out of the half, followed by layups from the same duo drew the deficit to 18, 61-43, with 13:24 to play.
 
Then a 9-0 run that included a Hearne triple and a pair of Moussa buckets made it 67-55 with 8:12 remaining. Minutes later, six straight from Scott, including his record-setting layup, along with a Moussa pull up made it 80-67 as the clock ticked under three minutes to go.
 
A Moussa three-point play and another layup from Scott pulled BHSU back within single digits, 80-72 with 1:41 left on the clock.
 
Scott would elevate for a pair of dunks and Hearne drove in for a layup to keep BHSU within striking distance as the team began fouling in the final seconds, but it wouldn't be enough, eventually falling 88-78.

 

No. 2/3 Black Hills State  vs.  Adams State   SATURDAY, FEB. 18 // 6 P.M. // SPEARFISH, S.D. // DONALD E. YOUNG CENTER Live Stream / Live Stats / Radio / Game Notes / Tickets

SATURDAY vs. ADAMS STATE
The Grizzlies have won two of their last three games, including wins over Western Colorado (104-93) on Feb. 11, and CSU Pueblo (80-68) on Feb. 4, snapping what had been a 13-game losing streak.
 
As a team, ASU ranks towards the bottom of the conference in several statistical categories, but is third in the RMAC in blocks per game (3.6), fourth in offensive boards per game (9.38) and forced turnovers per game (13.71).
 
BHSU is 5-5 all-time against Adams State dating back to 2013. The Yellow Jackets have won each of the last five meetings, including a win in Alamosa earlier this season, 84-64 on Dec. 30.
 
GRIZZLIES' LAST TIME OUT
A second half surge by the Adams State University Grizzlies helped them hand the Western Colorado University Mountaineers their tenth straight loss, 104-93, here inside Paul Wright Gymnasium on Friday night.
 
With the win, the Grizzlies improve to 5-19 overall and 3-15 in RMAC action.

Adams State saw Isaiah Sampson have a career night as he nailed 12 field goals including a perfect 3-of-3 from beyond the arch for 30 points, four more than his previous high of 26 points. He paced five other Grizzlies who scored in double digits on the night.

The game started with both teams not missing, but the Mountaineers used deep shots to take a lead before the Grizzlies tied the game at 11 at the first media timeout.

The Mountaineers saw a streak of six missed three-pointers before they heated back up and took a 19-15 lead into the under-12 mark.

The Grizzlies quickly tied the game up at 19 as they held the Mountaineers scoreless over 2:35 but they cashed in on their sixth three-pointer.

Then the Grizzlies took the game into their own hands, using several mini bursts to see a ten-point lead at the half, 54-44. The final minute of the half belonged to Alex Hurr who hit three three-pointers to close out the half.

In the second half the Grizzlies saw an 18-point lead with 16:57 left in the game, but the Mountaineers wanted to keep the game interesting as they went on a 9-0 run and made the score 68-55. The Mountaineers found themselves in foul trouble as the Grizzlies were in the bonus for the last 13:27 of the game.

Adams State then cashed in and earned their biggest lead of 21 as they held on to win.

LAST MATCHUP: BHSU at ASU (Dec. 30, 2022)
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.

YELLOW JACKETS RANKED
The Yellow Jackets are ranked second in the NABC Coaches Poll and third in the D2SIDA National Poll. BHSU also remains first in the South Central Regional Poll, where they've sat all season.

Statistically, BHSU is top-10 in the nation in seven different categories, including second in defensive rebounds per game (31.88), third in field goal percentage defense (38.9) and three-point percentage defense (28.9), fourth in three-point percentage (41.1), and ninth in field goal percentage (50.6), scoring margin (15.7) and three-pointers made per game (10.9).

As a team, BHSU leads the RMAC in seven key statistical categories, and is also top-five in 17 categories.

A FRIDAY BHSU WIN WOULD...
Put BHSU back in sole possession of first place in the RMAC with a 17-2 record in conference play and 23-2 overall.

A FRIDAY BHSU LOSS WOULD...
Put the Yellow Jackets into second in the RMAC, at 16-3 in league play, and potentially into a tie at second place dependant on Colorado Mesa's results.

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.

Bob Pietrack of Fort Lewis and ASU's Russ Caton are both in their eighth year at the helm at their respective schools.

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:
871

-BHSUAthletics.com-