3-Seed Black Hills State  vs.  2-Seed Fort Lewis   FRIDAY, MARCH 3 // 7:30 P.M. // GRAND JUNCTION, COLO. // BROWNSON ARENA Live Stream / Live Stats / Radio / Game Notes / Tickets / Bracket

Black Hills State men's basketball is in the semifinal round the 2023 RMAC Tournament as the No. 3 seed, and will take on No. 2-seeded Fort Lewis in Grand Junction, Colo. on Friday, March 3 at 7:30 p.m.
 
The Yellow Jackets finished the 2022-23 regular season with a 24-4 overall record, matching a program-best 24 regular season wins. On the latest national polls, BHSU came in at 12th in the nation on the D2SIDA Media Poll and 16th on the NABC Coaches Poll. Regionally, the team came in at No. 5 in the South Central Region.
 
FRIDAY vs. FORT LEWIS
The Skyhawks finished the regular season in second place in the RMAC, and is currently ranked first in the South Central Region. Nationally, they are ranked seventh in on the D2SIDA media poll and 10th on the NABC Coaches Poll.
 
FLC won its quarterfinal matchup on Tuesday over Regis, 96-89, but before that had lost to Colorado School of Mines, 75-64, in the team's regular season finale.
 
FLC is the leading scoring team in the RMAC and is 16th in the nation, averaging 84.2 points per game. They are also sixth in the nation in fewest turnovers per game (9.5) and 18th in turnover margin (3.8).
 
SKYHAWKS' LAST TIME OUT
Fort Lewis never led by more than three points until 5:18 remained in the contest, but that was all the tenth-ranked Skyhawks needed as Akuel Kot went for 25-points while Obi Agbim provided 22 more to defeat the Regis University Rangers 96-89 in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Tournament Quarterfinals Tuesday night in Whalen Gymnasium.
 
The Skyhawks, now 26-3 overall, will head to Grand Junction, Colorado, to take on third-seeded and 16th-ranked Black Hills State University (25-4) in the RMAC Tournament Semifinals. The Yellow Jackets advanced after defeating sixth-seeded Westminster College (Utah) (13-16) 80-69 in Spearfish, South Dakota. Regis finishes the season 12-17 and 9-13 in RMAC play.
 
"Great RMAC playoff game between two schools that are championship caliber programs," head coach Bob Pietrack shared. "We weathered a bevy of shots early, things didn't go our way, and there were multiple times we were ready to break through but couldn't. I really tip my hat to Regis. I thought they played very well, especially their seniors. We knew it would be a tough fight, but I'm just really proud of our guys tonight and excited to get on to the semifinal."
 
Kot's 25 points tonight lifts his season total to 701 and sets the new program record for single-season scoring. Kot breaks Joshua Blaylock's (2016-17) and Alex Herrera's (2014-15) previous record of 687. Now with 1,612 career points, Kot ranks sixth in all-time career points scored.
 
Regis stormed into Whalen with authority tonight, putting the Skyhawks on their heels early and taking a 10-3 lead, Regis' largest of the first half, on a pair of free throws from Aaron Bokol. Eddy Egun was the hot hand for the Rangers in the opening half, scoring 14 of his team-leading 21 points to give Regis a 45-42 lead heading into halftime.
 
Both sides finished above 50.0% from the field and just shy of 40.0% from the three-point line in the opening half, but it was the Skyhawks converting on just five of ten free throw attempts that relinquished the lead.
 
Fort Lewis came out of the half swinging, making five consecutive baskets capped off with a mid-range jumper from Dunnell Stafford for the Skyhawks' first lead of the night, 52-51. The Rangers responded promptly, scoring ten consecutive baskets of their own to recapture a 67-64 lead.
 
Prior to the eight-minute mark, Kot was sent to the lie for a pair of free throws that he would use to tie the contest 77-77, right on time for Agbim to find nothing but net from beyond the arc for the final lead change of the night. Regis forced a tie once more at 81-81 thanks to a pair of free throws from Jasdeep Singh, but Fort Lewis pulled away one final time to secure its trip to the next round of the RMAC Tournament.
 
Fort Lewis out-shot Regis from the floor 55.9% to 51.7%. The Rangers held the edge from beyond the arc 38.1% to 37.0% and at the charity stripe 91.3% to 76.9%, but it was in second chance and fast break points that proved to be the difference maker as FLC led it 22-11 and 14-2 respectively.
 
Kot and Agbim combined for 47 points tonight while Stafford back them up with 16 of his own, and both JaQuaylon Mays and Brenden Boatwright had the final 13 each. The Rangers had five of their own finish in double figures led by Egun with 21, Bokol with 16, David Simental with 15, Singh 14, and Chase Mayo Harmon with the final 10.
 
LAST MATCHUP: BHSU vs. FLC (Feb. 17, 2023)
Black Hills State men's basketball fell to Fort Lewis, 76-68 in a back-and-forth affair Friday night.
 
The Yellow Jackets (22-3, 16-3 RMAC) had four in double-digit scoring while shooting 42.9 percent from the field.
 
Adam Moussa led the team with 18 points and nine rebounds to go along with four assists, two steals and a block.
 
Joel Scott tacked on 17 points, eight rebounds, a block, and a steal.
 
Matthew Ragsdale finished with 15 points while Sindou Cisse scored 10 and grabbed four steals.
 
PJ Hayes grabbed five boards and Caelin Hearne had three.
 
After FLC took a quick lead, a pair of early Cisse buckets drew BHSU within three, 7-4, before a Ragsdale 3-pointer evened things at 7-all. A Scott slam right after made it 9-7 and led to a 14-0 scoring run that put BHSU ahead 16-7 with 16:00 to go in the first after a Cisse layup and Moussa 3-pointer.
 
The Yellow Jackets would take a 10-point lead on another Moussa triple and a Ragsdale pull up. Then a pair of buckets from Moussa and Scott pushed BHSU ahead 29-16 midway through the first.
 
FLC inched back within seven, 33-26, as time ticked under five in the opening half. But minutes later, a Hearne trey stretched the Yellow Jacket lead back out to 10, 36-26, as they eventually took a 39-32 lead into the locker room.
 
Teams went back-and-forth out of the break until an 11-2 Skyhawk spurt evened the game at 45-all at 15:03.
 
Three consecutive jumpers from Moussa and Ragsdale put BHSU back ahead 51-45. Then a Hackley 3-pointer and Scott layup on the following possessions extended the lead to 56-47 as the game clock ticked under 10 to play.
 
A Scott layup with under eight to play pushed the Yellow Jacket lead back into double-figures, 62-51. FLC wasn't done, though, outscoring BHSU 10-2 over the next three minutes, shrinking the lead back down to 64-61.
 
Alternating scores kept the Yellow Jackets just out front, until a FLC 4-point play gave them their first lead, 69-68, since early in the first half. That turned into a 13-0 spurt for the Skyhawks that eventually led to a 76-68 FLC win.
 
YELLOW JACKETS' LAST TIME OUT
Black Hills State men's basketball moved past 6-seeded Westminster, 80-69, Tuesday night to advance to the semifinal round of the RMAC Tournament.
 
The Yellow Jackets (25-4, 18-4 RMAC) shot 56.6 percent from the floor on the night, and 51.9 percent from beyond the arc.
 
Joel Scott finished with a game-high 23 points with nine rebounds, two steals and a block.
 
Ryker Cisarik scored 15, going 6-of-8 from the field and connecting on 3-of-4 from deep while also grabbing five boards.
 
Sindou Cisse led the team, dishing out eight assists and grabbing two steals while scoring seven.
 
PJ Hayes hit four threes to finish with 12 points and Ragsdale scored nine.
 
An early 5-0 spurt from the Yellow Jackets gave them a 7-5 lead two minutes in the game, but Westminster went ahead from there, taking an 11-7 lead.
 
A Ragsdale triple and a Cisarik dunk would put BHSU back on top 12-11 before both teams began trading buckets. As time ticked under the midway point, back-and-forth play continued and WC would hold a 22-16 lead with 7:53 left in the first.
 
Threes from Scott and Cisse evened things up at 26-all before another Scott trey put the Yellow Jackets back on top, 29-26, with under five to go before halftime.
 
A Ragsdale three, and layups from Hackley and Cisarik before the break, sent the men to the locker room with a 36-30 advantage.
 
Out of halftime, Westminster crept back to within three, 43-40, five minutes into the second half before three straight Cisarik threes gave BHSU its first 10-point lead, 54-44, with 12 minutes to go. Fisher made it four-straight threes for the Yellow Jackets on the following possession, pushing the lead to 57-44.
 
BHSU would lead by as many as 15 after a Cisarik layup made it 59-44 midway through the second. Threes from Scott and Hayes helped the Yellow Jackets hold onto their 15-point advantage as the game became 69-54 with 7:15 remaining.
 
Another Hayes trey at 5:46 gave BHSU its largest lead of the game, 72-56. A 10-2 Griffins run in the final minutes brought them back to within seven, 76-69, but the Yellow Jackets would make four from the charity stripe to seal the 80-69 win.
 
YELLOW JACKETS RANKED
The Yellow Jackets are ranked 12th in the D2SIDA National Media Poll and 16th in the NABC Coaches Poll. Regionally, BHSU is ranked fifth in the South Central Region.
 
Statistically, BHSU is top-10 in the nation in five different categories, including third in defensive rebounds per game (30.1), fifth in three-point percentage (40.3) sixth in three-point percentage defense (29.5), and 10th in field goal percentage (50.6) and made threes per game (10.9).
 
As a team, BHSU leads the RMAC in six key statistical categories, and is also top-five in 16 categories.
 
A BHSU WIN WOULD...
Advance them to the RMAC Championship for the second year in a row to take on the winner between No. 1 seed Colorado Mesa and No. 4 seed Colorado School of Mines.
 
A BHSU LOSS WOULD...
Eliminate them from the RMAC Tournament with the NCAA Tournament next up.
 
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 five years.
 
Fort Lewis Head Coach, Bob Pietrack, is in his eighth season leading the Skyhawks and currently owns the highest winning percentage, .692, in Fort Lewis program history.
 
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 have combined for the most total points in a season by a pair of NCAA teammates who also played on the same high school team, surpassing the previous high of 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:
1,061