SPEARFISH, S.D. – It was a dogfight right down to the final seconds in the A2 Arena on Saturday night, but in the end it was the Skyhawks who flew slightly higher than the Yellow Jackets as the Black Hills State University Men's Basketball team got edged, 75-70, by Fort Lewis College. Four players scored double digits for BHSU including Deegan Williams (So.., Gillette, Wyo.) who posted a career-high ten points in the contest.

With the defeat, Black Hills State drops to 6-7 on the season, 4-3 in Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference (RMAC) play. The Skyhawks, meanwhile, win their 12^th straight game to improve to 12-1, 7-0 against conference foes.

In a contest that featured six ties and a 18 lead changes it was Fort Lewis who was on the right side of the final one with a pair of free throws, a place they found themselves at a lot on this evening as they attempted 20 free throws to BHSU's eight and outscoring the Yellow Jackets 15-7 from the charity stripe .

Matthew Ragsdale (Gr., Colorado Springs, Colo.) finished as the leading scorer for the green and gold, pouring in 17 points although he required 17 shot attempts to get there.

Caelin Hearne (Jr., Norman, Okla.) came out of the gates firing but was ultimately slowed by some foul trouble in the second half. He still finished with 16 points on 6-for-7 shooting, four-of-five from three, reaching double-figures in a fourth-straight game for the first time in his career.

It was a career-best night distributing the basketball for Hoku Fisher (So., Wilmington, N.C.), as he matched the entire Fort Lewis team with six assists to go with his ten points and two steals.

Williams rounded out the BHSU double-digit scorers while he also finished as the team leader in rebounds with six.

John Shanklin (Sr., Bellevue, Neb.) contributed eight points and four rebounds for the Yellow Jackets, while matching his career-high with three blocks.

Obi Agbim led all players with 28 points on 10-for-20 from the field and came away with two steals for the Skyhawks.

Malik Whitaker was the only other Fort Lewis starter in double-digits with 14 points and a team-high six rebounds while Brayden Carter was a major factor for the FLC second unit, scoring 18 of their 25 bench points by making seven of his ten shot attempts from the field.

The Skyhawks opened the scoring with back-to-back three pointers before the Yellow Jackets countered with six-straight points of their own capped off by Fisher jumping a pass and earning a clear lane to the hoop for the game-tying dunk. Agbim converted a layup ahead of Hearne cashing in a triple, sparking a stretch of five consecutive baskets with a lead change, the last of which was a three-ball from Ragsdale. The see-saw pattern continued into the media break with BHSU holding a 19-15 edge into the under-12.

The guests recorded two of the first three baskets out of the timeout before Hearne cashed in on his third three-pointer followed by a made triple from Ragsdale. Those back-to-back connections from range constituted what finished as the longest scoring run of the night for the Yellow Jackets at six points to claim the largest lead for either side on the evening at 27-19. Agbim and Williams traded makes from range before Fort Lewis made their move. They pieced together what finished as their longest scoring run, collecting nine in-a-row to grab the lead 31-30. Four-straight lead-changing scores ensued before Agbim snapped the stretch with a jumper. BHSU would grab the lead entering the half on back-to-back point-blank baskets from Shanklin, and they led 39-38 at the break.

Agbim led all players with 14 points in the half, while Hearne led BHSU with 11 while connecting on all four of his shot attempts.

The Yellow Jackets did well handling FLC's defensive pressure in the half and held an 11-5 edge in points off turnovers, however, the Skyhawks tallied all nine second-chance points to keep it close.

A two from Ragsdale and a triple from Agbim opened the second half scoring and leveled the score before a three from Ragsdale with 18:27 remaining gave BHSU a lead they would not relinquish for the next ten and a half minutes of game time. And while the Yellow Jackets held the edge, FLC never allowed it to get out of hand, remaining within three possessions in that stretch.

Trailing by six with 9:02 left, the visitors made their move once more. A pair of free throws from Carter, five points from Whitaker, and Agbim splitting a pair from the stripe comprised of the largest run for either squad in the second half of play and gave the guests the lead. The teams would trade the lead back and forth with a trey from Fisher giving BHSU the edge, 67-66 with 4:17 left. Fort Lewis would claim the advantage for good about a moment later, however, as they scored seven-straight, including five from the line to grab a six-point lead, matching their largest of the night. Fisher made things interesting by getting the Yellow Jackets within three with a triple with six seconds remaining, but Agbim iced things by converting a pair of free throws on the other end to secure the win.

Agbim equaled his first half scoring output with 14 in the second stanza for the Skyhawks while Carter scored 11 in the half. Ragsdale led BHSU with 10 in the frame while Williams pitched in seven.

The Yellow Jackets return to the A2 Arena floor a week from today to face Western Colorado on Saturday, January 13^th. Tipoff is set for 7:00 PM.