SPEARFISH, S.D. – Out of a timeout and with six seconds remaining on the shot clock,
Hoku Fisher (So., Wilmington, N.C.) triggered play with a pass to the corner, and as the Adams State University trap tightened, the shot clock shortened, and the play became broken, he found himself with the rock again, stepping into and drilling a long three with just 12 seconds remaining. It proved to be the final nail the Black Hills State University men's basketball team needed as they survived, claiming a 90-87 victory at A2 Arena on Friday night.
With the win, the Yellow Jackets return to the .500 mark for the first time since the second game of the season, advancing to 6-6, 4-2 in Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference (RMAC) play. The Grizzlies, meanwhile, fall to 3-9, 1-5 in conference competition.
The new year brought out at different level of offense from the green and gold, as they obliterated their previous season-highs in points, field goal makes and attempts, field goal percentage, and assists, and saw five different players reach double-digits in the scoring column, the most they have had in a game this season. As it turned out, they would need all of that production as they also allowed a season-high in points defensively.
Matthew Ragsdale (Gr., Colorado Springs, Colo.) continued to dominate as a scorer, matching his highest scoring output as a Yellow Jacket with a game-high 32 points on 12-for-20 from the field and making all of his attempts from the charity stripe. He also matched his season-best with four assists, adding five rebounds and one block on the evening.
John Shanklin (Sr., Bellevue, Neb.) enjoyed a career night for BHSU, eclipsing his career-high in scoring in the first half alone, finishing with 15 tallies on seven-of-ten shooting to go with five caroms, two offensive, and a block.
For the second time in his career, and first time this season,
Caelin Hearne (Jr., Norman, Okla.) reached double-digits points in his third-straight game, finishing with 13, requiring just eight shots to get there.
Fisher finished with a dozen for BHSU on five-for-ten shooting and while
Joel Speckman (Fr., Parker, Colo.) was the only starter to not reach double-digits scoring, he did finish with a team-best seven rebounds and was tied for the team lead in assists with four.
Ronnail Tape (Fort Myers, Fla.) continued to thrive in his sixth-man role for the Yellow Jackets, finishing with ten points, making four of his six shots, including two-of-three from distance.
Adams State saw four players reach double figures, led by Austin Fadal's 21.
Destan Williams added 18 in addition to game-high marks of five assists and four steals, while Isaiah Sampson contributed 17 points and was tied for the game-high with eight rebounds including six offensive.
John Harge rounded out double-digit scorers with 11 tallies.
Both teams came roaring out of the gates offensively. The Yellow Jackets connected on ten of their first 15 shot attempts, receiving seven points from Hearne in that stretch. The Grizzlies matched, making ten of their first 16 shots from the field, and did claim what would ultimately end up being their only lead of the game, 18-17, at the 13:32 mark. All of this occurred before the under-12 media timeout, and when that break arrived, BHSU held a 21-20 edge.
The green and gold dominated the next stretch of play. Shanklin dunk, Fisher three, Shanklin three-point play, Tape triple, Ragsdale basket, Tape two, Fisher jumper,
Blake Volmer (Fr., Winner, S.D.) layup, and another Fisher two. If you blinked, you would have missed the 22-2 run the Yellow Jackets put together from the 11:50 mark until there was 6:05 remaining in the half. BHSU only missed a single shot attempt in that stretch, and the lone blemish was a Sampson layup for ASU. The Grizzles did respond with a run of their own, posting a 12-0 stretch a moment later that featured five apiece from Fadal and Kaleb Mitchell and suddenly the lead was down to single-digits. Ragsdale ended the run with consecutive baskets, and a minute after, Mitchell beat the horn with a layup bringing the score to 52-42 in favor of the Yellow Jackets after one half of play.
Black Hills State connected on 23 of their 34 shots in the first half, good for an unbelievable 67.6% field goal percentage on their way to 52 points, their most points scored in a half this season so far. They did have some trouble with the Adams State press, however, as they committed nine turnovers that the Grizzlies converted into 16 points, keeping the guests in the game.
Ragsdale led all players with 14 points and three assists at the half while Shanklin had already set a career-high scoring a baker's dozen for the Yellow Jackets.
Fadal paced the Grizzlies with 13 while Williams contributed 12 in the frame.
Adams State would hang around to open the second half, allowing their deficit to reach double-digits just once although they also would not get any closer than two possessions and they trailed by seven at the 13 and a half mark. It was then that Ragsdale took command. He went on a 10-2 run all by himself, receiving some aid from a single
Deegan Williams (So., Gillette, Wyo.) free throw along the way as BHSU lead ballooned to 16 with 10:44 remaining.
The Grizzlies would chip away at the green and gold advantage over the next six minutes of play, but still found themselves trailing by nine with four and a half remaining. Five-straight points got the lead down to four, the closest the game had been since the 11-minute mark in the first half. Speckman converted on proved to be a crucial three-point play to get the lead back to seven before Fadal and Ragsdale traded twos. Five-consecutive points from Harge cut things to a two-point game before Fisher finally put all drama to rest with his three. The teams traded intentional fouls and Fadal beat the horn with a jumper to bring the final tally to 90-87.
Adams State recorded 24 points in the paint and 11 second-chance points in the second half with Harge and Sampson leading the come-from-behind attempt with 11 apiece, however it was Ragsdale's 18 points in the half that led all scorers to stave off the comeback bid.
BHSU returns to their home floor tomorrow night to face a foe they became very familiar with in 2022-23. After they met four times last season, the Yellow Jackets face off against #10/24 Fort Lewis College on Saturday night at A2 Arena with tipoff set for 6:00 PM.
