RAPID CITY, S.D. – The Black Hills State University men's basketball team (9-10, 7-6 RMAC) dropped a Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference (RMAC) road game against the rivals from the South Dakota School of Mines (9-10, 7-6 RMAC) Wednesday evening inside the King Center. Matthew Ragsdale dropped a game-high 27 points in the effort for the Yellow Jackets.
 
Out of the gate it was John Shanklin (Sr., Bellevue, Neb.) with the first four points for the Yellow Jackets in front of a rowdy South Dakota Mines student section. Ragsdale (Gr., Colorado Springs, Colo.) would then score the next four for BH but it was Mines with the early 9-8 advantage at the first media time out of the night. Ragsdale would continue to put points up, hitting a mid-range jumper with contact as his free throw would knot the game up at 11-11 eight minutes into the contest.
 
Black Hills State would cut the deficit to 29-27 by the final media time out of the first half as the main scoring threat continued to be Ragsdale. Another Ragsdale bucket in the final seconds of the half would give the Hardrockers just a two-point lead at the break, 33-31.
 
Ragsdale led all scorers with his 15 points in the first 20 minutes of play, shooting 7-for-13 from the floor.
 
The Hardrockers opened the second half on a 5-0 run, before Blake Volmer (Fr., Winner, S.D.) found Shanklin cutting to the basket for an easy bucket to make it 38-33. Ragsdale would go on to hit the 20-point scoring mark with 14 minutes left as the bucket cut it to 41-39.
 
Hoku Fisher (So., Wilmington, N.C.) would give Black Hills State their first lead of the night with 11 minutes play since it was 4-2 with 18:16 left in the first half. The rivals would trade buckets with each other for the next several minutes. A 12-0 Hardrocker run would again give the momentum back to the home side, extending a lead back into double digits at 57-46 with four and a half minutes to go.
 
Despite the run, a 6-0 run late saw the Yellow Jackets cut the lead down to five at 57-52 with two minutes to go. The run would continue as Ragsdale knocked down a jumper to pull BH within three and South Dakota Mines would use a time out to talk things over. However, that would be all the scoring for Black Hills State on the night as free throws down the stretch allowed South Dakota Mines to defend the home floor with a 59-54 victory.
 
GAME NOTES

• Matthew Ragsdale dropped a game-high 27 points and John Shanklin added 12 for Black Hills State in the effort.
• He shot 50% from the floor (12-for-24) and brought down four rebounds in 36 minutes of action.
• Ragsdale and Shanklin combined for 72% of the team's points in the effort, as just five Yellow Jackets put points on the board.
• Shanklin also recorded two blocks and brought down seven boards, while Hoku Fisher also brought down seven rebounds as the duo tied for the team lead.
• Joel Speckman and Caelin Hearne both also brought down six rebounds each.
• BHSU shot 42.3% to Mines' 34.9% on the contest.
• Freshman Blake Volmer made his first-career start tonight for the Yellow Jackets, as he tied is early career-high with seven points.

Up Next: Black Hills State continues the road swing with a trip to Colorado Christian (8-11, 4-9 RMAC) on Saturday with tip-off slated for 7:00 p.m. the CCU Event Center.