6-seed Black Hills State  vs. 3-seed Colo. Sch. of Mines   SATURDAY, MARCH 11 // 11 A.M. MT (12 P.M. CT) // CANYON, TEXAS. // FIRST UNITED BANK CENTER Live Stream / Live Stats / Radio / Game Notes / Tickets / Bracket / Tournament Central

Black Hills State men's basketball enters the NCAA DII tournament for the second straight season after making a Final Four run in last year's tournament.

This year, BHSU enters the tournament as a No. 6 seed and will face No. 3 seed Colorado School of Mines in the first round of the South Central Regional Tournament on Saturday, March 11 at 12 p.m. CT (11 a.m. MT)

The Yellow Jackets are currently 25-5 overall and are coming off an RMAC Semifinal run after matching a program-best 24 regular season wins. On the latest national polls, BHSU came in at T20th in the nation on the D2SIDA Media Poll and 21st on the NABC Coaches Poll.

Games will be available to stream all weekend via the RMAC Network HERE, or on the Lone Star Conference Digital Network HERE. If streaming via the Lone Star Conference Digital Network, after creating an account on the LSC service, the stream will be available for free access. To sign up, click here.
 
* If it asks to select a payment plan, exit the window and head back to the link here to access the women's game, which should be located under the Live/Upcoming tab. *

Tickets are now on sale and can be purchased ahead of time online HERE. Or, fans can purchase their tickets at the WTAMU Ticket Office located inside the First United Bank Center in Canyon, Texas. Tickets will also be sold at the door on the day of competition.

Saturday's schedule will be split up into two sessions with the arena being cleared following Session I, fans will be asked to exit the First United Bank Center then re-enter with their Session II ticket.

BUY TICKETS ONLINE
Sideline Seats Session Pass - $20
Reserved Chairback Session Pass - $10 (Section 116, 215, 216, 217)
General Admission Session Pass - $5
Children's General Admission Session Pass - $4 (3-17 years old)
Student of Participating Institution Session Pass (Must Show Valid ID) - Free

SATURDAY vs. NO. 3 COLORADO SCHOOL OF MINES
The Orediggers finished with an 18-4 RMAC record and are currently 26-5 overall after advancing to the RMAC Championship game last weekend.

CSM ended the season leading the RMAC in blocks (3.9), rebounds (37.4) and assists (17.9) per game, while also holding the highest assist/turnover ratio in the conference (1.62).

Orediggers' Brendan Sullivan and Adam Thistlewood were selected First Team All-RMAC. Sullivan finished top-10 in the RMAC in made 3-pointers, threes per game and 3-point attempts. Thistlewood was top-10 in nine statistical categories, including FG percentage, total points, points per game, and rebounds.

The Yellow Jackets are 6-14 all-time against the Orediggers, but are winners of their last three, including their win at home on Feb. 3 and their overtime win in Golden, Colo. earlier in the season.

OREDIGGERS' LAST TIME OUT
Looking for their third RMAC Tournament title in program history, the #13/25 Colorado School of Mines basketball took the floor at Brownson Arena Saturday against #10/7 Fort Lewis for the second time in the last eight days and managed to overcome a slow start to the night and rallied in the final minutes to make things tense, but ultimately came up short in their bid for gold falling 82-76.

The Orediggers (26-5, 18-4) saw Adam Thistlewood go for a season-high 26 points, one shy of his collegiate career high, while Brendan Sullivan dropped 17 and continue his strong play in the postseason, but in the end, the Skyhawks (28-3, 19-3) were able to withstand the second half surge from Mines and hung on in the closing moments to take home the tournament title.

Fort Lewis scored first and got out to a quick 4-0 lead before Trent Dykema got Mines on the board with a pair of free throws. FLC was able to push their lead to seven after an Akuel Kot jumper at 16:27 but was assessed a technical foul that saw a four-point swing with a Ben Boone free throw and a three from Sullivan closed it to a three-point game at 11-8.

The Skyhawks were able to rebuild their lead and push it to a 10-point edge at 20-10 on a Brenden Boatwright jumper with 13:34 to play. A couple of layups by Sullivan sandwiched around an Obi Agbim jumper brought Mines back within seven before back-to-back baskets from Boone made it a six-point game at 27-21 with 9:18 to play.

Over the next five minutes, FLC was able to make it a 15-point game as first half foul trouble started to stack up against the Orediggers as with 4:08 to play the score read 40-25. A couple of three pointers and a 2-3 trip to the free throw line by Thistlewood over the final 2:36 got the Orediggers back within nine as the first half closed with the Skyhawks out front 42-33.

Boatwright opened the second half with a layup to push the lead for Fort Lewis back north of 10 for a moment before Thistlewood drained a trey from Dykema. The Skyhawks continued to keep the Orediggers at arm's length as the half continued, as a layup and a pair of free throws from Kai Barr close the deficit to six at 52-46 with 14:08 to play was answered by a JaQuaylon Mays three to make it a nine-point game again.

Riley Schroeder got in on the action, as his jumper at 12:21 made it a five-point game at 55-50 as the Orediggers were determined to not to make it easy on Fort Lewis. After Akuel Kot drained a three, a three from Beskind and another jumper by Schroeder closed to within four at 58-54 with 11:25 to play.

FLC managed to push the lead back to 10 at 66-56 on another three from Kot with 9:22 left as the margin hovered between seven and nine for the next three or so minutes. Grant Pressly drained a three from Adam Krasovec with 4:57 left to cut the lead to 72-66 before the big Hungarian made it a four-point game with a layup about a minute later.

Unfortunately, Mines was unable to close the gap any further, as the teams traded baskets in the final minute of play while the Skyhawks left the door open as they failed to convert from the free throw line in the closing seconds, the Orediggers couldn't take advantage as time expired with Fort Lewis taking the tournament crown with the 82-76 win.

YELLOW JACKETS' LAST TIME OUT
Black Hills State men's basketball traded blows with No. 2 seed Fort Lewis for all 40 minutes, but ultimately fell 83-78 Friday night.

The Yellow Jackets (25-5, 18-4 RMAC) shot 47.6 percent from the field but were held to 21.7 percent from deep while the Skyhawks converted 22 of 26 from the free throw line.

Joel Scott led the Yellow Jackets, recording his 13th double-double of the year with 29 points and 11 rebounds.

Sindou Cisse was efficient on the floor, making 6-of-9 to finish with 14 points along with seven rebounds, four assists and a steal.

Caelin Hearne also scored in double-figures with 10 points.

Jaeton Hackley had four defensive boards and grabbed a block and a steal while defending FLC leading scorer, Akuel Kot, for most of the game.

PJ Hayes collected five rebounds while Matthew Ragsdale and Ryker Cisarik each finished with four.

BHSU struck first with a Cisse floater, before FLC scored nine unanswered to take an early 9-4 lead. Teams traded points from there as a Cisse dunk and 3-pointers from both Cisse and Scott helped the Yellow Jackets start to close the gap, trailing 16-12 with 12:33 to go in the opening half.

A Cisse 3-point play and a Hackley layup drew BHSU to within one, 18-17, before a Ragsdale jumper and layups from Cisarik and Hearne put the Yellow Jacket ahead 23-20 with under nine minutes left in the first.

That turned into a 15-3 run carried by a 3-point play from Scott, a Hearne layup and a Cisarik steal and dunk to take a 32-23 lead and force FLC to take a timeout with 6:43 to go.

The Yellow Jacket offense continued to stay hot with another 3-point play from Scott and a Hearne layup to take their largest lead of the half, 37-25 with under five to go until halftime.

The Skyhawks weren't out, though, inching back to within five, 41-36 with just over two left in the first. FLC's Akuel Kot scored nine points in final minutes, but a Ragsdale trey and layups from Scott and Cisse helped the Yellow Jackets hold a 49-42 advantage at the break.

Back-and-forth action continued out of the locker room as a pair of Scott layups helped BHSU take a 54-46 lead with 17:48 to play. Free throws kept FLC close, despite BHSU holding them without a field goal in first 4:28 of play, allowing them to draw back to 54-50 on their first points from the floor.

Back-to-back threes from the Skyhawks brought them back to within a possession, 58-56, and a free throw made it a one-point game, 58-57, with 12:22 remaining.

Hayes drained a three at 11:09 before a Hearne layup extended BHSU's lead to 67-61 at the midway point of the second half. But FLC wouldn't go away, keeping the game within a possession before eventually tying the game at 67-all on free throws at 7:25.

A Cisse layup put the Yellow Jackets back on top, 69-67, before the Skyhawks evened the game once more and eventually took a 73-71 lead with 4:49 to go, their first lead since midway through the first half.

What became a 7-0 FLC spurt put the Skyhawks ahead 76-71 entering the final 3:25. A pair of Scott buckets drew the Yellow Jackets back to a single possession, 78-76, but FLC would go on to close it out at the charity stripe and win 83-78.

LAST MATCHUP: BHSU vs. CSM (Feb. 3, 2023)
Black Hills State men's basketball downed No. 10/13 Colorado School of Mines in a resounding 85-66 win inside a packed Young Center, Friday night.

The Yellow Jackets (19-1, 13-1 RMAC) only trailed for two minutes in the early part of the game and shot lights out in the first half, 69 percent from deep, while holding CSM to a season-low 66 points on the night.

Joel Scott scored a game-high 28 to go with nine rebounds and a block.

Adam Moussa tallied 18 points, five rebounds and three assists, and Matthew Ragsdale scored 19, going 4-of-7 from deep.

Hoku Fisher hit three treys for nine points, to go with six rebounds and a steal.

Ragsdale opened the game going 4-of-4 from beyond the arc while Fisher also added a pair to get the Yellow Jackets out to an early 22-14 lead by the 13-minute mark.

That led to what would be a 16-3 run lasting nearly four minutes with a Scott dunk and a Moussa triple, pushing the BHSU lead to 29-16 midway through the first.

From there, though, an eight-point run for the Orediggers closed the gap to 29-24 with just over seven minutes to play in the first half.

A pair of layups from Scott and free throws from Scott and Ragsdale stretched the lead to 38-29 before Moussa extended the lead to 43-29 with a trey and jumper of his own with 3:21 to go before halftime.

From there, the Yellow Jackets maintained a ten-point lead up to the first-half buzzer as they went into the locker room with a 47-37 advantage.

The BHSU offense continued to rain down on the Orediggers in the second half as they opened the period outscoring them 16-7 behind seven points each from Moussa and Scott.

The game went back-and-forth for a while until the Yellow Jackets held a 72-54 lead with under eight to play.

As the clock ticked under three minutes, a Moussa kickout to PJ Hayes for three gave BHSU a 20-point lead, 81-51, before a Hayes dunk in the final seconds sealed the 85-66 victory at home and the regular season sweep over the Orediggers.

YELLOW JACKETS RANKED
The Yellow Jackets are ranked T20th in the D2SIDA National Media Poll and 21st in the NABC Coaches Poll.

Statistically, BHSU is top-10 in the nation in four different categories, including third in defensive rebounds per game (30.9), eighth in three-point percentage defense (30.0) and field goal percentage (50.4), and ninth in three-point percentage (39.8).

As a team, BHSU leads the RMAC in seven key statistical categories, and is also top-five in 16 categories.

A BHSU WIN WOULD...
Advance them to the semifinal round of the 2023 South Central Regional Tournament on Sunday, March 12 at 5 p.m. to face the winner between No. 2 Fort Lewis and No. 7 Lubbock Christian.

A BHSU LOSS WOULD...
Eliminate them from the NCAA Tournament, bringing an end to the 2022-23 season for the Yellow Jackets.

COACHES
Head coach Ryan Thompson is in his fifth season leading the Yellow Jackets, having now taken the program to two-straight NCAA tournaments, and to the RMAC tournament each of the last six years.

Pryor Orser is in his 22nd season leading CSM, is the program's all-time wins leader, and has carried the Orediggers to their 12th NCAA Tournament berth.

RECORDS/MILESTONES
Joel Scott became the BHSU all-time leading scorer in program history this season, surpassing previous record holder Kim Templeton (2,180, 1972-76) and now sits at 2,343 career points heading into the NCAA Tournament.

Scott is also currently at 936 career rebounds heading into the NCAA Tournament, 64 shy of 1,000 for his career.

Scott was named 2022-23 RMAC Player of the Year for the second straight season, also earning the honor in the 2021-22 season.

Head Coach Ryan Thompson won his 100th game as head coach this season, becoming just the 4th head coach in program history to reach 100 victories, and is the quickest to do so.

Now with a career coaching record of 100-40 (heading into NCAA Tournament), his .714 winning percentage is the highest in school history among coaches who have managed at least 50 games.

PJ Hayes has been incredible behind the arc this season, and has ranked as high as fifth in the nation in 3-point percentage, currently averaging .423 from deep.

BHSU men's basketball matched their program record with 24 regular season wins, and reached as high as No. 2 on the NABC Coaches Poll on Feb. 14, the highest the program has ever been ranked nationally.

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 current teammate Joel Scott.

Ragsdale rejoined 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 combined for the most total points in a season by a pair of NCAA teammates who also played on the same high school team. Previously, the highest combined total was 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:
1,098