SPEARFISH, S.D. - The Black Hills State University Men's Basketball team begins the unofficial second half of the 2023-24 season with a pair of Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference (RMAC) showdowns as they host Adams State University on Friday, January 5^th at 7:00 PM, followed by #10/24 Fort Lewis College on Saturday, January 6^th at 6:00 PM at A2 Arena in the Donald E. Young Center.

Winners of three of their last four games, BHSU seemingly hit their stride at the start of RMAC play ahead of winter break, raising their record to 5-6 overall and 3-2 in conference competition, and they will look to ride that momentum into the new year.
 
FRIDAY vs. ADAMS STATE
The Grizzlies last played a pair of exhibition losses against Division-I foes, and have overall scuffled thus far this season, standing with a 3-8 record overall and 1-4 in conference play. They have fallen in eight of their nine contests since an opening weekend sweep, with their lone victory in that span coming against New Mexico Highlands University. Their last DII contest was a 99-71 defeat at the hands of #8 Colorado Mesa.

Adams State ranks in the bottom half of the RMAC in most major statistics, particularly struggling with conference-worst marks in opponent field goal percentage (49.4%), defensive rebounds per game (21.45), and three-point percentage (30.9%). The Grizzlies want to play fast, ranking in the top-five in the RMAC in fastbreak points per game (11.64), steals per game (8.0), and turnovers forced per game (15.45) and as a result, they are seventh in scoring with 75.4 points. However, there are downsides to playing with so much pace as they turnover the ball 14.4 times per game themselves and allow opponents to score 84.0 points per game against them, the most in the conference. They do have a tendency to get to the charity stripe and connect on their shots when they get there, ranking second in the RMAC and 26^th nationally in free throw percentage (77.5%).

Point guard Destan Williams is their top player as he leads Adams in points, assists, and steals standing tenth in the conference in scoring (15.1), ninth in facilitating (3.0), and fifth in thieving (1.91). Isaiah Sampson is their top rebounder averaging 5.0 per game. 

GRIZZLIES' LAST TIME OUT
FORT COLLINS, Colo.- Playing in front of a packed Moby Arena on Friday night, the Adams State University men's basketball squad dropped an exhibition game, 106-61, to the NCAA Division 1 15th-ranked team in the nation.

Adams State was led by John Hardge, who scored 12 points.

Adams State was in the game early before trailing 56-35 at thge break.

They suffered a 19-0 scoring drought over 6:14 in the second half before they dropped the game.

Adams State returns to action next Friday when they travel to South Dakota to take on Black Hills State.

LAST MATCHUP: BHSU vs. ASU (Feb. 18, 2023)
SPEARFISH, S.D. - 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.

Notes
- This win is Ryan Thompson's 98th of his career, putting him two shy of 100.

SATURDAY vs. FORT LEWIS
The Skyhawks have been impressive this season. They dropped their season opener to #19 Angelo State University but have not lost since and stand at 10-1 on the year including 5-0 in RMAC play. As a result, they stand at #10 in the NABC national poll, and #24 in the latest D2SIDA ranking.

Fort Lewis jumps off the page statistically as they top the conference in a whooping 11 major statistical categories while landing outside the top-nine in every all of them with the exception of opponent three-point percentage (35.3%) in which they rank 12^th. Deep and difficult on both ends, the Skyhawks boast the number-two scoring defense in the conference allowing just 68.0 points per contest, a mark that is aided by leading the league in blocks per game (4.2), steals per game (10.1), and turnovers forced per game (19.00). They may be even better offensively as FLC is the top scoring team in the RMAC averaging 87.9 points per game, reaching that mark without a player in the top 248 players in all of DII men's basketball in points per game. They are able to do this by boasting among the deepest rosters in the nation as they receive 40.27 points per contest from their bench, the eighth-most nationally. Fort Lewis also leads the conference in both turnover and scoring margin so far this season.

Obi Agbim is the leading scorer for the Skyhawks, averaging 13.5 points per contest and is one of four players averaging double-figures this season with another six scoring five-or-more per game for FLC. A slashing guard, Agbim shoots .451 from the field, but only .279 from three-point range while also distributing a team-best 2.9 assists per game. He does get to the free throw line a good amount and converts when he gets there with a 87.5% (35-40) free throw percentage. Brayden Carter, Junior Garbrah, and Malik Whitaker join Agbim as the team's double-digit scorers with Carter also being their top rebounder and shot blocker averaging 6.5 and 1.6 respectively, the later being the most in the conference. Whitaker leads the team in steals at 1.7 just ahead of Agbim's 1.6.

SKYHAWKS' LAST TIME OUT
DURANGO, Colo. – Tuesday night provided displays of jaw-dropping offense coupled with relentless defense as six players finished in double figures while the tenth-ranked Fort Lewis men's basketball team handled Navajo Technical University 116-67 to capture the program's tenth-consecutive win ahead of its return to conference play this weekend.

The Skyhawks move to 10-1 on the season while Navajo Tech takes its seventh loss.

Fort Lewis kicked off the evening on a 9-0 run thanks to five straight buckets and never looked back. Shooting 58.2 percent (39-67) from the field on the night, the Skyhawks led by as many as 32 points in the opening half before nearly doubling it with a 53-point lead late in the second.

Defensively, FLC clamped the visiting Skyhawks to 36.9 percent (24-65) shooting across the night while also blocking six shots, making 15 steals – the seventh most in a single game in program history – and forcing 27 turnovers. In the post, FLC dominated NTU 45-31 in total rebounds and nabbed 13 offensive rebounds for 14 second-chance points.

Malik Whitaker led all Skyhawks in double digits with 17 points including a perfect 9-for-9 mark at the charity stripe. Junior Garbrah added another 16 points while tying his career-high with four steals and dishing out a pair of assists. Brayden Carter was the go-to man down low, scoring 15 points and leading the roster with eight rebounds.

Four players for Navajo Tech scored in double figures: Kane Kenyon with 15 points, Albrandon ByJoe with 14, Dontrelle Denesto with 12, and Talon West with the final 11.

11 different players for Fort Lewis tallied 10 or more minutes with 13 total players touching the floor.

Quotable
"Being in the RMAC as long as I have been, the game after the break is scary. You think you're conditioned, but game conditioning is so much different than practice. I'm glad we were able to get a good run in, I thought Navajo Tech played very hard the whole time. We're hitting a stretch where we're going to find out a lot about our team with four-straight on the road in-conference and everyone knows how hard RMAC road games are." – Head coach Bob Pietrack

"The team, we're close. The coaches have been doing a great job helping us put ourselves in great situations and great spots. This team is very selfless and unselfish, it's great to see the distribution and see everyone get on the board, it's only going to propel us forward." – Senior guard Junior Garbrah

Notables
-Fort Lewis' 15 steals tonight is the seventh most in program history in a single game and was last achieved against Evangel on Nov. 28, 2016.
-Garbrah matched his career-high with four steals.
-The Skyhawks have now won ten straight games.
-Fort Lewis has cracked the century mark twice this season while breaking 90 points for the past five games.
-Tonight marks the first time this season that six individuals scored in double figures.

LAST MATCHUP: BHSU vs. FLC (March. 12, 2023)
CANYON, Texas - Black Hills State men's basketball toppled No. 2 Fort Lewis, 81-66, Sunday night to continue their postseason run.

Entering the game 0-3 against the Skyhawks this season, the Yellow Jackets (27-5, 18-4 RMAC) fought to the end in this one, out-rebounding FLC 42-32 and keeping them to 15.4 percent from beyond the arc.

Joel Scott made his presence known with 23 points and 19 rebounds to go along with four steals and two blocks.

Sindou Cisse was excellent on defense, holding the leading scorer in the nation, Akuel Kot, to 4-of-10 shooting from the floor and 14 points in the game. Cisse himself finished with 14 points, three assists and two blocks.

Matthew Ragsdale and Jaeton Hackley each finished with 13 points with four made field goals. Hackley added three steals on defense.

PJ Hayes was the fifth Yellow Jackets in double-digit scoring tonight with 10 points while also grabbing three steals.

Ryker Cisarik added eight points, going 4-of-7 from the field, and six rebounds.

Hayes and Scott opened the scoring for the Yellow Jackets, getting them out to an early 5-4 lead before threes from Hayes and Ragsdale gave BHSU an 11-6 lead.

After a pair of Cisarik jumpers, a Cisse 3-point play and a Hayes trey helped the Yellow Jackets out to an 11-4 spurt to extend to an 28-17 lead with under eight to go. After the Skyhawks scored a pair of unanswered shots, a technical on the FLC bench resulted in a pair of Ragsdale freebies to make it 33-21 with just over five remaining.

In the closing minutes of the first half, a Hackley 3-pointer and Cisarik pull up helped the Yellow Jackets take a 40-32 lead into the locker room.

Out of the break, an 8-0 run capped by a Hackley 3-point play gave BHSU its largest lead of the game, 50-35 with 16:26 on the clock.

Minutes later, a FLC 7-point spurt pulled the Skyhawks within 10, making it a 55-47 ballgame, but back-and-forth play carried the game into under seven minutes to play when a Ragsdale jumper made it a 63-55 Yellow Jacket lead.

A Cisse three and Scott 3-point play followed made it a 10-1 scoring run, extending the lead back to 15, 71-56 with under five to play.

FLC inched back to within 10 once more, 73-63, as the clock ticked under two minutes and the team began fouling. BHSU went 6-of-8 from the charity stripe down the stretch to secure the 81-66 victory.

Notes
- As a program, the Yellow Jackets are 6-1 all time in NCAA Tournament play.
- With 19 rebounds, Joel Scott now sits at 964 for his career, 36 shy of 1,000.
- Scott and Ragsdale have combined for 1,159 points so far this season, giving them the most combined points by a pair of NCAA teammates who were also high school teammates, surpassing 1,047 scored by Dick and Tom Van Arsdale at Indiana in the 1963-64 season.

YELLOW JACKETS' LAST TIME OUT
LAS VEGAS, N.M. – With a double-clutch three-pointer over two defenders off the left wing with 12 minutes and 15 seconds remaining in the second half, Matthew Ragsdale surpassed the 2,000-career points threshold as a part of a night of celebration for the Black Hills State University men's basketball team, as they defeated New Mexico Highlands University, 77-66, at the John A. Wilson Complex on Friday night.

With the win, the Yellow Jackets reach the unofficial halfway point in the season with a 5-6 record, 3-2 in RMAC play. The Cowboys, meanwhile, fall to .500 across their ten contests this season, 2-3 against conference foes.

Ragsdale becomes the 16th playing in the history of the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference to score 2,000 or more points, joining former high school and Yellow Jacket teammate Joel Scott on that list. The first 1,309 points came during his time with Western Colorado University through the first three years of his collegiate career, while he now stands with 699 as a Yellow Jacket after scoring 21 points in the contest.

In addition to his scoring, which led all players, Ragsdale matched a season-high with four assists and grabbed four rebounds for BHSU.

Hoku Fisher matched a career-high in scoring with 18 points for the Yellow Jackets, including four in four attempts from the free throw line. He also distributed a career-high five assists, snagged a team-high eight rebounds, recorded his first career multi-block game, and grabbed a steal.

Coming off the bench for the first time this season, Caelin Hearne excelled, scoring 14 points in the win, making a season-high four three pointers. He added six caroms to go with two blocks and three steals, both of which are career-best marks.

The Yellow Jackets post tandem of John Shanklin and Joel Speckman also played well. Shanklin finished with six points, five boards, two of them offensive, a steal and a block while Speckman accumulated nine points and seven rebounds off the bench.

Messiah Turner led a trio of Cowboys in double-figures with 15 points on 5-of-11 from the field.

AC Curry contributed a dozen although he needed 13 shots to get there. He added seven caroms and a team-high two assists.

Nathan Hasberry finished with ten points in relief, making three of his four shot attempts from the field and snagging three steals.

Ezichi Kalu came up just short of a double-double, finishing with eight points and ten rebounds, two offensive, for the hosts.

BHSU's defense held NMHU's leading scorer coming in, Kenard Richardson to seven points on the night on just 2-of-14 shooting, 2-for-7 from three.

Overall, the Yellow Jackets held the Cowboys to a season-low in scoring with 66 points with their .357 field goal percentage, and .150 mark from range also being season-lows for NMHU. Black Hills State set a season-high for blocked shots, while their seven steals also matches their season-best mark thus far.

Offensively, BHSU connected on a serviceable 43.3% of their shot attempts, but they made them count as they cashed in on a season-high 12 three pointers. They also registered a season-best 15 assists as a team.

The defenses dominated through the first 13 minutes of this game. BHSU opened by making six of their first 18 shots including three of 12 from three while committing five turnovers, one of which was a NMHU steal. The Cowboys were buoyed by a bunch of offensive rebounds, but only hit seven of their first 27 shots, including two-for-ten from deep, turning the ball over four times, three of which were Yellow Jacket steals, and they had two shots blocked. As a result, neither team opened up much distance as it remained a one-possession contest throughout that span with the exception of a five-point edge, 16-11, that the hosts gained at the 10:38 mark with a layup from Hasberry.

It would be virtually all Black Hills State after the Hasberry layup as they dominated the second ten minutes of the half. Ronnail Tape buried a three and Shanklin tied things with a layup a moment later. Ragsdale made a pair from the charity stripe to claim a lead that they would ultimately never relinquish. The Yellow Jacket run was then briefly interrupted by Turner splitting a pair from the line. A Shanklin slam, Ragsdale trey, Speckman free throw, five-straight from Fisher, and a three from Hearne comprised of the BHSU side of what ended up as a 21-7 stretch to close the half with a 32-23 lead.

Fisher and Ragsdale paced BHSU with eight points each in the opening frame, with Curry matching that total for New Mexico Highlands. Unfortunately for the hosts, outside of Curry, only one player made more than one field goal, that being TJ Sanchez who had four tallies at the break while the Yellow Jackets also got six points from Shanklin, five from Hearne, and four from Tape in the half.

The late surge by the Yellow Jackets got their shooting percentage to a more visually appealing 39.3% in the first half and they did make the most of their made shots from the field, with six of their 11 coming from three-point range. They made their money on the defensive end, however, holding the Cowboys to just 10-37 from the field (27.0%) and 2-for-13 from range (15.4%) while accumulating three blocks and three steals.

New Mexico Highlands would look to close the gap early in the second half, scoring eight of the first ten points of the stanza, cutting the Yellow Jacket lead to three, but ultimately that's as close as they would get. After having the lone bucket of the NMHU run, Fisher finished a slick scoop layup and drew a foul for three-points the old-fashioned way, halting the run. BHSU used that as a launch for an 18-3 stretch across the next five minutes of game time. The final basket of the run was a Ragsdale three pointer at the 12:15 mark that represented the 1,999th, 2,000th, and 2,001st points of his career, becoming the 16th player in RMAC history to score 2,000 or more points in their career.

Out of a timeout, Highlands would score eight-straight to get back win ten, and they would eventually whittle the deficit down to five points with just under eight minutes remaining. However, Fisher converted his second and-one of the half to stop the run. Each team went scoreless for a spell before an Kalu layup got the score within six at the 5:05 mark, but Black Hills State responded with a 10-2 run including a pair of threes from Hearne, putting things out of reach as the Yellow Jackets finalized the 77-66 victory.

Ragsdale led all players with a baker's dozen in the second half with Fisher and Hearne adding ten and eight respectively, with their baskets coming at critical points. Turner tried to lead a comeback with 12 in the half, but it was not enough for the hosts.

Both offenses enjoyed much more success in the second half than the first, with BHSU seeing their field goal percentage rise to 46.9% and NMHU rise to 45.5%. However, the Yellow Jackets connected when it mattered from the free throw line going eight-of-nine, and also made seven threes against the Cowboys' one to hold off the comeback attempt.

Black Hills State will get a couple of weeks off for the holidays before returning to the hardwood to host Adams State at A2 Arena in the Donald E. Young Center on Friday, January 5th. Tipoff is set for 7:00 PM.

MATCHUP HISTORY
After dropping five-straight to Adams from 2013-2017, Black Hills State has dominated the head-to-head matchup winning the past six matchups head-to-head, five of which have been with Coach Thompson at the helm, including each of their contests last season, an 84-64 victory on December 30^th in Alamosa, and a 97-78 win in Spearfish on February 18^th. This brings their record to 6-5 all-time against ASU.

Black Hills State versus Fort Lewis was a common matchup during the 2022-23 season as they encountered each other four times last season. The Skyhawks held the upper hand in RMAC play, sweeping what ended up as a home-and-home series on February 13^th and 17^th in the regular season before ending BHSU's conference title defense in the conference tournament. The Yellow Jackets were victorious in the game that mattered most, however, eliminating FLC in the regional semifinals with an 81-66 victory. Prior to last season, BHSU had won five-straight against the Skyhawks including all four matchups in the Ryan Thompson era. All-time the series is 8-6 in favor of FLC.

A BHSU WIN WOULD...
VS. ADAMS STATE: Get BHSU back to the .500 mark for the first time since November 11 when they were 1-1… Be their seventh-straight win against Adams head-to-head, matching their longest active winning streak against any RMAC foe. The streak currently trails BHSU's current streak of seven-straight against Western Colorado.

VS. FORT LEWIS: (If paired with an Adams State win) advance BHSU above the .500 mark for the first time this season… Be the Yellow Jackets' second-straight win against Fort Lewis dating back to last season, and if FLC beats South Dakota Mines, it would mean that BHSU would be responsible for two of the Skyhawks' last three defeats across a stretch of their last 17 games extending into last season… Improve BHSU to 8-6 against nationally-ranked opponents in the regular season in the Coach Thompson-Era, including 6-2 over the past two seasons.

A BHSU LOSS WOULD...
VS. ADAMS STATE: Be their first loss to the Grizzlies since falling to ASU, 75-73 on January 14, 2017… Be the first time BHSU held a .500 record or worse in conference play in January or later for the first time since the 2017-18 season.

VS. FORT LEWIS: (If paired with an Adams State loss) drop BHSU below the .500 mark in conference play this late in the season for the first time since they stood at 8-9 on February 3, 2018.

MATHEW RAGSDALE NOTES
Matthew Ragsdale was surging prior to the holiday hiatus scoring 20 or more points in three consecutive games and averaging 28.3 points per game in that stretch shooting .566/.370/.857 (30-53/10-27/12-14) in that span. His 81 total points is the most he's scored in any three-game stretch as a Yellow Jacket.

Ragsdale has a chance to score 1000 points in his Yellow Jackets career. If he does so, it is believed that he will be the first to do so at the DII level all time. (Per NCAA)

POINTS UNTIL 1000 AT BHSU: 301

GETTING (CAEL)INVOLVED
Coming off the bench for the first time this season, Caelin Hearne had a standout performance against New Mexico Highlands on Dec. 15. He scored 14 points to lead the Yellow Jackets second unit, but really made his impact felt defensively posting the first multi-block and three-plus steal performances of his career while also snaring six caroms, all defensive, the second most in a game in his career.

TALE OF THE TAPE
Ronnail Tape is averaging 5.7 points per game with a .400/.333/.666 shooting line this season as a starter. As a reserve he has thrived however, with his numbers rising to 10.25 points on .591/.600/.750 from the field. He has scored more total points as a reserve (41) than he has as a starter (40) despite having seven starts against just four appearances as a reserve.

RECENT TRENDS
- Over his last three games, Matthew Ragsdale has averaged 28.3 points per game, shooting .566/.370/.857 in that span. 

- Caelin Hearne is averaging 14.5 shooting .480 from the field and .455 from three in that span. His 29 points across the past two contests is the most in a pair of consecutive conference contests in his career, only trailing his 31 points accumulated on Nov. 21 and Nov. 27 earlier this season. In that span, he has also averaged 5.0 rebounds (1.0 offensive), 1.5 blocks, and 1.5 steals per contest.

- Hoku Fisher is averaging 12.0 points in his last four games. He has also been a force on the glass in that span, securing seven-or-more rebounds in three of those contests, including a career-high 11 on Dec. 9 on his way to averaging 7.75 caroms per game.

AGAINST ADAMS
- Across seven career appearances against Adams State, Matthew Ragsdale averages 18.0 points per game shooting .526/.489/.857 shooting line. He averaged 15.0 points and 5.0 rebounds shooting .524 from the field and .533 from distance in those games. He was the game's leading scorer with 19 points in the matchup on Dec. 30.

-Hoku Fisher only played significant minutes in the second matchup of the season between BHSU and Adams State, matching what finished as his season-high of nine points while making three of his four shots from the field (two-of-three from three).

-Adams State was a favorable matchup for Caelin Hearne a season ago, eclipsing double-digits in both matchups a mark he reached nine times total last year. He finished averaging 11.0 points, 2.0 rebounds and 1.0 assists in those games. In his three career appearances against Adams, he averages 9.0 points per game, his second-highest average against any RMAC foe, making 68.8% of his field goal attempts and 62.5% of his looks from distance in those contests.

AGAINST FORT LEWIS
- The Skyhawks had a very strong gameplan for Matthew Ragsdale a season ago, limiting him to just 10.25 points per game across their four matchups, the second lowest average of any team that BHSU played at least twice last season. They held Ragsdale below ten points twice across those four contests, a threshold he failed to eclipse just nine times all last season. His career average of 14.4 points per game in starts against the Skyhawks is his second-lowest mark against any RMAC foe.

-Caelin Hearne enjoyed a couple of his best scoring performances from last season when BHSU dueled Fort Lewis, reaching double-digits twice, a mark he reached nine times total last year.

COACHES
Head coach Ryan Thompson is entering his sixth season leading the Yellow Jackets, having taken the program to back-to-back NCAA DII Final Fours, and the RMAC tournament each of the last five years.

Kenny Tripp is in his first season at the helm of the Adams State Men's Basketball program after he was hired in May. He last spent four seasons as an assistant coach at the University of Idaho.

Bob Pietrack is in his ninth season as the bench boss for the Skyhawks holding a 160-71 record entering this season with his .693 winning percentage being the best in program history. He is fresh off a 2022-23 season in which he led FLC to a program-best 29-4 record and an RMAC Regular Season and Tournament Championship, and was named NABC South-Central Region Coach of the Year. A Skyhawks lifer, Pietrack not only played his college ball at FLC, but his entire assistant coaching career as well before being named the head coach in 2015.