SPEARFISH, S.D. – Five minutes, that was all it took for the Black Hills State University men's basketball team to erase a 15-point second-half deficit that took over 20 minutes to build, and as the game got tighter, and the A2 Arena crowd got louder, more and more Yellow Jacket fans came to the realization that they were witnessing something special. And special it was, as in their largest come-from-behind win since 2019, BHSU stunned Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference (RMAC) foe New Mexico Highlands University, 89-82 on Friday night.

With the win, Black Hills State keeps their home winning streak against the Cowboys alive, extending it to six games, but more importantly, they picked up a much-needed tally in the left column, improving to 8-9 on the season, 6-5 in conference play. With the shocking defeat, NMHU drops to 6-11 including 4-9 against conference competition.

The largest lead that the Cowboys compiled in the contest was 16 on multiple occasions in the first half, making it the largest deficit the Yellow Jackets have overcome in a victory since they came back from 21 down on November 11, 2019 in a 78-75 win over Tarleton State.

Black Hills State matched their season-high in points in the paint with 44, and in rebounds with 42, obliterating their previous season-best with 14 on the offensive glass. As a result, BHSU also took a season-high 71 shots in the game including a whopping 39 in the second half.

The Yellow Jackets also got a season-best 31 points off the bench led by a game-high 23 points from Ronnail Tape (Jr., Fort Myers, Fla.) who set BHSU-highs in points, field goal makes and attempts, free throw makes and attempts, and steals in the game. He finished making 9-12 from the field with three boards and two thefts in the contest.

Also off the bench was Joel Speckman (Fr., Parker, Colo.) who finished just shy of a double-double, scoring eight points to go with a game-best ten boards, five of them on the offensive end which is also a season-high.

Fresh off a career-high scoring output against Westminster, Caelin Hearne (Jr., Norman, Okla.) put together another standout showing, pouring in 19 on 7-15, adding five rebounds.

It was a rather pedestrian night for Matthew Ragsdale (Gr., Colorado Springs, Colo.), as he did not get on the board in the first half, but did catch fire in the latter frame, pouring in 16 to go with three rebounds and two assists.

John Shanklin (Sr., Bellevue, Neb.) rounded out Yellow Jackets in double-digits with 14 on six-of-ten to go with five caroms, three of them offensive.

Deegan Williams (So.., Gillette, Wyo.) contributed a game-high four assists to go with five rebounds and a steal.

The Cowboys' leading scorer was Rodney Mason II who put in 18 on seven-for-ten shooting while collecting six rebounds.

Messiah Turner added 16 points while Ezichi Kalu finished just shy of a double-double with 12 points and nine rebounds in addition to three steals.

Aahmod Scarbrough pitched in ten off the bench for NMHU.

The teams would evenly split the first ten points of the game before Turner would connect on a pair of free throws for New Mexico Highlands, lighting a spark that nearly grew into a full-fledge fire. Ten more points consecutively put the guests up by a dozen before Ryan Thompson had seen enough and took a rare first-half timeout. Tape ended the run with a bucket and a foul although he would miss his attempt at the line. BHSU got their offense moving a little into and beyond the under-12 media timeout, but the Cowboys responded and still led by a dozen just over the halfway point in the opening stanza, 26-14.

Black Hills State maintained their offensive momentum in the second ten minutes of the game, but NMHU just kept responding, and would build their lead to as much as 16 in the half on a couple of occasions. The Yellow Jackets would finally piece together a run beginning at the 3:50 mark, five from Tape, another three from Speckman, and a pair from the stripe by Hoku Fisher (So., Wilmington, N.C.), consisted of a 10-5 stretch that got the deficit to 11, but a Nathan Hasberry putback in the waning seconds made the margin 13, 46-33, at the half.

Tape was on fire, recording or matching his season-bests in points, field goal makes and attempts, and free throw makes and attempts in the first half alone, finishing with 16 to lead all players and they were critical as they kept the Yellow Jackets in the game. BHSU just could find a rhythm as a team in the frame, shooting just 37.5% including just 2-12 from three. The Cowboys only shot 41.5% from the field but they also made five threes to account for much of their lead.

Highlands would open the second half with two of the first three baskets, but the Yellow Jackets seemed to have some frustration about their first half showing and came out firing. Ragsdale finally got on the board with a three, then a Hearne triple, NMHU layup, Hearne layup, Fisher jumper, Shanklin layup, Ragsdale layup, Ragsdale jumper, and a Hearne corner three. Boom, Jackets lead. In a span of five minutes of game time, BHSU eradicated a 15-point deficit, turning it into a two-point advantage.

The Cowboys would tie the score on a couple of occasions the rest of the way, but would never lead again, as back-to-back rousing dunks from Tape and Ragsdale on either side of the one-minute mark, exhilarated the Yellow Jackets' faithful and boosted the lead from one to five. Black Hills State would connect on their free throws down the stretch to put the finishing touches on their largest come-from-behind victory in over four years.

Ragsdale led all players with 16 in the second half, with Hearne adding 14 and Shanklin pitching in ten while NMHU failed to have a single player reach double-digits in the stanza, although Mason II did have nine. Black Hills State shook off their first half scuffles from range to make half of their 12 three-point attempts in the comeback, 53.8% of their looks overall, and piled up 26 points in the paint in the frame on their way to 56 points, their most in a half this season.

The Yellow Jackets will look to build off their second half momentum entering another home contest against CSU Pueblo on Saturday. Tipoff is set for 6:00 PM.
 
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