No. 8/10 Black Hills State men's basketball wraps up its 2022-23 regular season this week with a pair of mid-week games, taking on Colorado Christian on Wednesday, Feb. 22 at 7 p.m. and then Chadron State on Thursday, Feb. 23 at 7:30 p.m.
 
The latest polls have BHSU at 8th in the nation on the D2SIDA Media Poll and 10th on the NABC Coaches Poll. Regionally, the team is second in the South Central Regional Poll with a 23-3 overall record.

 

No. 8/10 Black Hills State  at  Colorado Christian   WEDNESDAY, FEB. 22 // 7 P.M. // LAKEWOOD, COLO. // CCU EVENT CENTER Live Stream / Live Stats / Radio / Game Notes / Tickets

WEDNESDAY at COLORADO CHRISTIAN
The Skyhawks have lost four straight and six of their last seven, most recently falling to Colorado School of Mines (83-58) and Metro State (75-73) last weekend.
 
CCU ranks near the bottom in most statistical categories in the RMAC, but is fifth in team offensive rebounds per game (9.4) with the ability to rack up second-chance points.
 
The Yellow Jackets are 8-10 all-time against Colorado Christian, although BHSU has won each of their last three matchups, and six of their last eight.
 
COUGARS' LAST TIME OUT
The Cougars played on the road for the last time this season, taking on MSU Denver on Saturday. In a tight game that needed extra minutes, CCU fell in overtime 75-73 to the Roadrunners.
 
DJ McDonald excelled with 20 points, while Noah Kon tallied 16 on the night. Isaiah Alonzo and Schafer Reichart each pulled down six rebounds to lead the team, and Shaylen Woodberry recorded five. Kon put out three assists, followed by McDonald, Alonzo and Woodberry with two.
 
CCU was effective in transition, scoring 20 points off of turnovers to their opponents' 10. They secured 14 second chance points, and the score was tied 12 times in a back and forth affair. They put in 38 points in the paint and saw their bench score 9 points. In the end a few late buckets that did not fall resulted in a narrow MSUD victory in overtime.
 
Woodberry was strong all night, picking up several offensive boards and putting second chance points in. McDonald was responsible for the game going to OT, hitting a clutch three with six seconds remaining. The game was tight throughout, with each team leading by five in the first half and three in the second, not allowing either to pull away. It was fitting that such a contest required another five minutes to decide a winner. McDonald put his team up one with 2:20 left in overtime, but then the Roadrunners got a dunk to change the momentum, and a three-pointer forced the Cougars to take a timeout. A late look from CCU from three did not fall to give Metro the win in a thrilling game.
 
LAST MATCHUP: BHSU at CCU (Jan. 28, 2023)
Black Hills State men's basketball played tough Saturday night, topping Colorado Christian, 80-73.
 
The Yellow Jackets (13-4, 11-1 RMAC) pulled away in the second half of the game which had 20 lead changes, shooting over 57 percent from the field, and making 20 free throws.
 
Joel Scott led all scorers with 27 points to go along with 11 rebounds, a block and an assist while going 10-of-16 from the charity stripe. Scott tallied a double-double for the 13th time this season.
 
Adam Moussa dished out a team-leading five assists while totaling 15 points, two steals, a block and a rebound.
 
Sindou Cisse scored 16 with six rebounds, four assists and two blocks while Sava Dukic finished with 11 points and three assists.
 
Both teams traded buckets to open the game before a pair of Dukic layups, and free throws from Moussa and Scott, gave BHSU a 17-14 lead midway through the first.
 
Back-and-forth play continued in a first half that saw 18 lead changes and seven ties as the Yellow Jackets went on to sink 11-of-14 from the free throw line while only shooting 16.7 percent from deep in the first.
 
Though neither team could find a way to separate in the opening period, shots from Dukic and Scott in the final minute of the half sent BHSU into the locker room with their largest lead of the game to this point, 42-39.
 
Out of the break, the Yellow Jackets built on their lead, moving up 51-46 with a Dukic 3-pointer, and then a few minutes later, a three by PJ Hayes put their lead into double-digits, 58-46, with 14:03 remaining.
 
That advantage held over the next several minutes of play until the Yellow Jackets took their largest lead of the game, going up 13 (71-58) on a Scott hook shot at 7:45.
 
Down the stretch, a CCU three made it a seven-point game and they would eventually pull to within five (76-71) with under one minute to play, but it wouldn't be enough as BHSU held on to win, 80-73.

 

No. 8/10 Black Hills State  at  Chadron State   THURSDAY, FEB. 23 // 7:30 P.M. // CHADRON, NEB. // CHICOINE CENTER Live Stream / Live Stats / Radio / Game Notes / Tickets

THURSDAY at CHADRON STATE
The Eagles moved in the regional rankings for the first time this season as winners of nine of their last 10. This past weekend they defeated Metro State 86-76 before falling in a close 78-74 matchup with Colorado School of Mines.
 
The Eagles hold the fourth-best offense in the league, averaging 78.1 points per game, and hold a scoring margin of +6.4. CSC rebounds very well, sitting fourth in combined rebounds per game (36.6) and leading the RMAC in offensive boards with 11.5 per game.
 
BHSU is 19-9 all-time against CSC, and 11-1 over their last 12 meetings.
 
EAGLES' LAST TIME OUT
Chadron State College's "Mr. Quick," Bryce Latimer, tallied 43 points Tuesday night while bringing the Eagles from behind to win 85-76 over South Dakota Mines in a Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference game in Chadron.
            
The win was the Eagles' 10th in 11 games, giving them an 18-9 season record and a 15-6 RMAC mark.  Mines is 9-18 and 8-13.
           
Latimer, a 5-10 dynamo who comes off the bench, scored 15 points while playing that many minutes in the first half, then poured in 28 points in 16 minutes in the second half. He's the first Chadron State male basketball player to score 40 or more points in a game this century and his 43 points ties him for fifth on the Eagles' all-time single game list.
 
The Stone Mountain, Ga., native was 13 of 19 from the field, including four of seven on 3-pointers range, and made 13 of 14 free throws. The Hardrockers tried to guard him. He was fouled 10 times, usually while driving to the basket for a short jumper or a layup.
 
This was the first time in the Eagles' 27 games this winter that he has attempted and made so many 3-pointers. He'd made just 10 treys entering the game.
            
The Eagles needed Latimer's boost off the bench.
 
It was the Hardrockers' Alejandro Rama, a dynamic player in his own right, who lit things up early.  The 6-foot-1 Red Cloud High graduate opened the game by hitting six consecutive 3-point shots as Mines took a 30-17 lead midway in the half.
 
Boosted by Latimer's 15 points, the Eagles finally gnawed at the Hardrockers' lead and trailed by only 44-39 at halftime. While the margin was never greater than seven points and was a single point on three occasions, the South Dakota visitors remained ahead the first 14 minutes of the second half.
            
It was a Latimer 3-pointer that put the Eagles on top 66-65 with six minutes remaining.  That turned out to be the game's only lead change.
 
The Eagles certainly never ran away and hid.  CSC's advantage was just 75-72 with 1:26 to play after the Hardrockers' Kolten Mortensen hit a 3-pointer.  Latimer then drove for one of his layups, did something of a double clutch while he was in the air, and made the shot to give the Eagles a 77-72 cushion with 56 seconds to play.
 
After Mines failed to score on its ensuing possession, Latimer made two sets of free throws and his teammates tacked on four more points in the final 16 seconds.
 
LAST MATCHUP: BHSU at CSC (Jan. 18, 2022)
Black Hills State men's basketball defeated Chadron State, 83-65 Tuesday night with a strong second-half performance.
 
Despite trailing at halftime, the Yellow Jackets (11-4, 9-1 RMAC) shot over 65 percent from the field, and 50 percent from deep in the second half to seal the win.
 
Joel Scott led all scorers with 22 points while also totaling nine rebounds, two assists and four blocks.
 
Sindou Cisse came down with eight rebounds, three assists and a steal to go along with his 15 points.
 
Adam Moussa dished out four assists and scored 14 points, while Ryder Kirsch and PJ Hayes each scored nine.
 
Tommy Donovan finished with four points, four rebounds and four assists.
 
The Eagles got out to a quick start, leading most of the first half by taking advantage of turnovers, but the Yellow Jackets were able to remain in striking distance. CSC would lead by as much as 10 (23-13) with 11:20 to go in the first half before BHSU began inching back before the break.
 
Layups from Scott and Donovan down the stretch pulled BHSU to within two possessions, and a big 3-pointer from Ryker Cisarik in the final seconds before halftime drew the Yellow Jackets within one as they trailed 35-34 going into the locker room.
 
After going back-and-forth out of the half, the Yellow Jackets re-took the lead 43-42 on a Cisse jumper three minutes into the second.
 
BHSU would follow that up with a 7-minute, 21-4 run behind seven points from each Moussa and Scott and a monster dunk by Cisse to move out to a 66-52 lead with 7:26 remaining.
 
From there, threes from Moussa and PJ Hayes extended the Yellow Jacket lead before a Cisarik dunk gave the team a 20-point advantage, 81-61 with a minute to go before BHSU closed it out.
 
YELLOW JACKETS' LAST TIME OUT
Black Hills State men's basketball put up 97 on Adams State Saturday night to come away with a 97-78 victory.
 
The Yellow Jackets (23-3, 17-3 RMAC) matched a season-high with 49 team rebounds while totaling 17 second-chance points.
 
Joel Scott and PJ Hayes combined for 50 points on the night. Scott scored 30, making 9-of-12 from the field, while also grabbing nine boards. Hayes drained six 3-pointers, finishing with 20 points, five rebounds, three assists and a steal.
 
Caelin Hearne and Matthew Ragsdale also scored in double-figures, totaling 12 and 11, respectively. Hearne shot 5-of-6 from the field and connected on both of his attempts from deep, giving him a 57.4 3-point percentage this season.
 
Ragsdale knocked down three triples and cashed in five rebounds and two steals.
 
Ryker Cisarik pulled down a team-high 10 rebounds and had a block to go with six points.
 
BHSU came out to a vigorous start, as an early nine points from Ragsdale and eight points from Scott got the Yellow Jackets out to a 17-5 lead six minutes into the game.
 
A few possessions later, back-to-back threes from Hayes and Hearne extended the lead to 23-8. After that, three-straight Hayes triples gave BHSU a 20-point lead, 32-12, midway through the half.
 
ASU made some headway from there, cutting the Yellow Jacket lead to as low as 13, before a Scott 3-pointer made it 43-27 with 4:47 left in the opening frame.
 
Teams traded points out of the break as BHSU free throws and a Ragsdale layup made it a 59-41 game before another Hayes three gave the team it's largest lead of the game, 62-41, with 15:45 to play.
 
Back-and-forth play continued from there and the Yellow Jackets continued to hold a 20-point advantage, using eight different scorers the rest of the way to put together a 97-78 win over the Grizzlies.
 
YELLOW JACKETS RANKED
The Yellow Jackets are ranked eighth in the D2SIDA National Media Poll and 10th in the NABC Coaches Poll. BHSU is now second in the South Central Regional Poll.
 
Statistically, BHSU is top-10 in the nation in six different categories, including second in defensive rebounds per game (31.8), fourth in field goal percentage defense (39.1), fifth in three-point percentage defense (29.1), sixth in three-point percentage (40.5), and 10th in scoring margin (+14.9) and made threes per game (10.8).
 
As a team, BHSU leads the RMAC in eight key statistical categories, and is also top-five in 17 categories.
 
A FRIDAY BHSU WIN WOULD...
Improve the Yellow Jackets to 24-3 overall and 18-3 in RMAC play to remain in a second-place tie with Colorado Mesa.
 
A FRIDAY BHSU LOSS WOULD...
Put the Yellow Jackets at 24-3 overall and 17-4 in RMAC play, dropping the team into third place in the conference depending on Colorado Mesa's results.
 
PATH TO THE NO. 1 SEED
Currently one game behind Fort Lewis, and even with Colorado Mesa in the RMAC standings, the Yellow Jackets don't hold the tiebreaker for either matchup. This means BHSU will have to finish with the best record in the conference, outright.
 
In order for this to happen, the Yellow Jackets would have to win its final two games, and then rely on Fort Lewis to lose both of its final two games against Metro State and Colorado School of Mines, and Colorado Mesa to lose one of its two remaining games against Westminster and Western Colorado.
 
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.
 
Liam Simmons is in his third season heading the CCU men's basketball program, as is CSC's Shane Paben.
 
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:
944