COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – When it comes to free basketball Black Hills State University has seen their fair share of success, and Thursday night in the Gallogly Events Center was no different as a 95-89 victory marked the Yellow Jackets fifth consecutive overtime win dating back to the 2021-22 season. In order to get to the extra period, BHSU had to weather the storm of a 19-0 Mountain Lion run that stretch from the first half into the second and gave them a double digit lead, however Cam Lowe caught fire from deep as he scored 25 of his career-high 28 points in the second half and overtime which included five baskets from beyond the arc.
 
QUICK DETAILS
Score: Black Hills State 95, UCCS 89
Team Records: Black Hills State 6-5 (2-1 RMAC), UCCS 5-4 (1-2 RMAC)
Attendance: 487
 
HOW IT HAPPENED

• Black Hills State jumped out to an early 8-4 lead entering the under 16 media timeout with 15:10 to play in the first half as Jaeton Hackley and Joel Speckman each knocked down a pair of baskets for the Yellow Jackets in the opening minutes.
• The teams continued to go back-and-forth in the opening stages of the game as BHSU maintained the advantage, which included a one dribble pull up jumper from beyond the arc by Cam Lowe to make it a 15-12 edge for Black Hills State with 12:03 to play. The basket by Lowe the proceeded to spark an 11-3 scoring run that was capped by a fastbreak dunk by Jack Haggett to extend their lead to 23-15 with 9:04 remaining till the break.
• The final basket of the first half for the Yellow Jackets came with 5:36 to play as Hackley connected on a pull up jumper from just inside the arc on the right side of the court to make it a 32-24 advantage. Following that point quick passing off a defensive rebound resulted in a fastbreak dunk by William Becker off the feed from Jesse Iweze with 4:53 remaining to spark a 17-0 run to end the half for the Mountain Lions, capped by a made tip-in by Becker with just a couple of seconds remaining on the clock to make it a 41-32 game at the break in favor of UCCS.
• With a pair of free throws by Xavier Martinez just seven seconds into the second half, UCCS extended their scoring run to 19-0 to grab the largest lead of the game at 11 points (43-32) before Lowe ended the run with a pull up jumper just off the right elbow to bring the Yellow Jackets back within single digits (43-34) with 9:37 to play in regulation. BHSU began to chip away at the deficit little by little as following a fastbreak dunk by Hannes Saar off a steal as Hackley found Haggett who knocked down a right-wing 3-pointer to cut the deficit down to four points (47-43) as 16:24 remained on the clock.
• A pair of trips to the free throw line for the Mountain Lions saw Jezza McKenzie and Gavin Carter hit two free throws apiece to momentarily push their lead back to eight points (51-43), however, Hackley dished out another assist as he found Tristan Hurdle on the right-wing who connected on the 3-pointer to spark a 9-0 Black Hills State run. Capping the run of nine straight points for BHSU was Lowe who started to hit his stride as he sank a left-wing 3-pointer off the kick-out pass from Speckman to give Black Hills State the lead back at 52-51 with 14:31 to play.
• Starting with the Lowe 3-pointer, the teams briefly exchanged the lead three times, with the final time being a basket from beyond the arc for Deegan Williams to give BHSU the 55-53 advantage with 12:00 left as he received a kick-out pass from Speckman.
• The Yellow Jackets never trailed in the final 12 minutes of action, and they led by as many as eight points (77-69) with 4:22 remaining as Caelin Hearne made a driving left-handed layup. Helping build up the lead was Lowe who knocked down three 3-pointers in just a span of 2:19 of game time to fuel the BHSU offense.
• UCCS continued to battle, however, as they closed regulation on a 12-4 scoring run, including seven unanswered points in the final 2:10 of game time. The Mountain Lions pushed the game into overtime as Saar made a tip-in with 2.6 seconds remaining to even the game at 81 apiece.
• Saar continued to be the driving force for the UCCS offense as he hit a left-wing 3-pointer off the assist from Martinez to give them the 84-81 edge just 14 seconds into the extra period. Lowe, who had gotten hot from deep in the second half continued the momentum as he knocked down a step-back 3-pointer from the right-corner after BHSU secured a pair of offensive rebounds on their first possession to tie the game at 84 with 4:06 to play.
• After the lead traded hands a pair of times, it was a right-handed dunk by Speckman that gave Black Hills State the lead for good as they held an 89-88 edge with 44.2 seconds left on the clock. Lowe then iced the game away with 6-of-6 shooting at the charity stripe in the final 30 seconds as the Yellow Jackets secured the 95-89 victory as they closed the game on an 8-1 scoring run. 

BLACK HILLS STATE STATISTICAL LEADERS
Cam Lowe: 28 points, 6-of-7 3-pointers, 9 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals, 1 block
Caelin Hearne: 14 points, 4-of-4 free throws, 3 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 steal
Jaeton Hackley: 12 points, 2 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 block
Tristan Hurdle: 11 points, 3-of-7 3-pointers, 2 rebounds, 1 block, 1 steal
John Shanklin: 10 points, 5-of-5 field goals, 2 rebounds, 1 assist
 
UP NEXT
Black Hills State will stay in the Denver metro area as they visit Colorado Christian in the final game of the 2024 calendar year on Saturday, December 14, for the Yellow Jackets. The match-up with the Cougars is set for a 3 p.m. tip-off in the CCU Events Center in Lakewood, Colorado.
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