RAPID CITY, S.D. – The Black Hills State University men's basketball team was unable to hold off South Dakota Mines in the first RMAC conference game of the season as they fell by a score of 58-50 in the King Center on Tuesday night. The Yellow Jackets started the game red-hot as they jumped out to a 17-2 lead, which saw Caelin Hearne score 11 early points as he connected on three 3-pointers, however, the Hardrockers used an 11-2 run to end the first half and then out-scored BHSU 35-20 in the second half as the Green & Gold went cold from the field late.
 
QUICK DETAILS
Score: Black Hills State 50, South Dakota Mines 58
Team Records: Black Hills State 4-5 (0-1 RMAC), South Dakota Mines 1-8 (1-0 RMAC)
Attendance: 250
 
HOW IT HAPPENED

• Despite taking a couple of minutes to find the bottom of the net, Black Hills State jumped out to a quick 9-0 start, sparked by a left-corner 3-pointer by Caelin Hearne off an assist by Jaeton Hackley. Capping the run to start the game was a right-handed dunk by Jack Haggett off the steal and dish by Hearne with 16:11 to play in the first half.
• Guido Wanschelbaum momentarily interrupted the run with a turnaround jumper off the right block prior to the under 16 media timeout with 15:50 on the clock, however, out of the huddle Hearne once again got the Yellow Jacket offense going leading the rally on an 8-0 run. Hearne knocked down back-to-back 3-pointers with shots from the left-wing and the left-corner, while Haggett scored off an offensive rebound with a right-handed layup to make it a 17-2 game with 12:48 remaining in the first half.
• Ending a nearly three minute scoring drought for BHSU was John Shanklin who powered up a right-handed layup in a crowd of South Dakota Mines defenders after receiving a pass from BJ Woodruff, making it a 19-5 advantage with 10:09 on the clock as the teams began to go back-and-forth midway through the opening half.
• Black Hills State saw their largest lead of the game occur on two occasions late in the first half at 16 points as Deegan Williams found Shanklin for a left-handed layup off the pick and roll to make it 23-7 with 8:57 remaining, and then a few minutes later Wiliams found a lane to the hoop from the left-wing and finished with a layup to make it 28-12 with 5:55 to play.
• A midrange fadeaway jumper from the left corner by Abel Hutchinson off the inbounds pass from Tre Dowdell sparked an 11-2 scoring run for the Hardrockers that eventually cut the Yellow Jacket lead to 30-23 at the halftime break.
• Hutchinson continued the SDM scoring run into the second half, extending it to a 16-4 Hardrocker run as he grabbed an offensive rebound off his own layup attempt and proceeded to knock down a turnaround jumper off the left block, and then the next South Dakota Mines possession he connected on a right-corner 3-pointer off a kickout pass from Mac Terry to cut the BHSU lead to 32-28 with 17:38 left in the game.
• Jasper Reinalda gave South Dakota Mines their first lead of the contest as he grabbed his own missed jumper in the paint after a blocked shot by Shanklin and hammered down a one-handed dunk to make it a 39-38 game in favor of the Hardrockers with 11:52 to play.
• Black Hills State was unable to regain the lead the remainder of the game despite keeping things close as a Hearne brought the Yellow Jackets back within a point as he finished a layup high off the glass with his right hand after a spin move in the paint, making it a 51-50 game with just 1:34 left on the clock. The basket would be BHSU's last of the night, however, as a deep, contested 3-pointer on the left-wing by Keagan Smith off the assist from Dowdell proved to be the dagger. Wanschelbaum and Hutchinson each added a pair of free throws in the final 20 seconds of action to cap a 9-2 scoring run for South Dakota Mines that spanned the final 6:15 of game time as the Yellow Jackets were just 1-of-10 on field goal attempts to end the game.

BLACK HILLS STATE STATISTICAL LEADERS
Caelin Hearne: 19 points, 3-of-4 3-pointers, 5 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 block, 1 steal
John Shanklin: 9 points, 4-of-4 field goals, 4 rebounds, 2 blocks
Jaeton Hackley: 8 points, 7 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal
 
UP NEXT
Black Hills State will return to A2 Arena for the lone home contest of the month as they face Chadron State in a 3 p.m. tip-off on Saturday, December 7.
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