DURANGO, Colo. – For the second time at his second different Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference (RMAC) institution, Matthew Ragsdale eclipsed the 1,000-career mark in school uniform, surpassing the 1,000-point mark as a Yellow Jacket this evening, despite the Black Hills State men's basketball team (13-12, 11-8 RMAC) falling to a top-5 foe in Fort Lewis (23-2, 18-1 RMAC), 87-79.

𝙃𝙀'𝙎 𝘿𝙊𝙉𝙀 𝙄𝙏. 🏀💯

With his 13th point against the Skyhawks tonight, 𝙈𝙖𝙩𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙬 𝙍𝙖𝙜𝙨𝙙𝙖𝙡𝙚 scored his 1,000th career point as a Yellow Jacket!

He's now scored 1,000+ points at two different schools, both being in the @RMAC_SPORTS!#ClimbTheHills x @BHSUMBB pic.twitter.com/dsgyrg0Y33

— Black Hills State Athletics (@BHSUAthletics) February 24, 2024

 
Fort Lewis jumped out to a quick fast 6-0 lead inside Whalen Gymnasium Friday night, the score holding there by the first media time out of the night. The Skyhawks continued to add to their early lead with a 10-0 advantage. Caelin Hearne (Jr., Norman, Okla.) put the Yellow Jackets on the board six minutes in with a 3-pointer to make it 10-3 Skyhawks. Black Hills State would put together a little push after the Hearne deep ball, cutting the deficit to 12-7 by the second media break.
 
By the midway point of the first half, it was a 20-13 Skyhawk lead as Deegan Williams (So., Gillette, Wyo.), Hearne, and Blake Volmer (Fr., Winner, S.D.) had all knocked down deep balls to lead the team in scoring early on. A John Shanklin (Sr., Bellevue, Neb.) dunk got the Jacket bench into it. Trailing 27-20 with six minutes to play in the half, back-to-back deep balls from Williams and Ronnail Tape (Jr., Fort Myers, Fla.) sparked a 15-0 run as the Yellow Jackets surged to a seven-point lead of their own at 34-27 with just under three minutes to play in the half. Black Hills State would take the 39-33 lead into the locker room.
 
It was the Skyhawks who put up the first six points of the second half to draw even at 39-39 in the first two and a half minutes. The two sides would then go back and forth, jostling for the lead. Tied at 50-50 with 14 minutes to play, a 9-2 Fort Lewis run would give the home squad the spark they needed to defend the home floor.
 
Despite the run, the Yellow Jackets would attempt to fight back but Skyhawk lead would grow to double digits with five minutes to play. Down but not out, Black Hills State got the game back to single digits, but Fort Lewis would convert at the free throw line down the stretch to defend the home floor with a 87-79 victory.
 
GAME NOTES

• Matthew Ragsdale picks up his 1,000^th career point as a Yellow Jackets in the second half.
• Joel Speckman records a career-best four blocks in the contest.
• Caelin Hearne paces the team with his 23 points, his second-straight 20-point game and fourth of the season.
• Ragsdale adds 16 and Speckman adds 12 off the bench.
• Speckman brought down a team-high eight rebounds, while Hoku Fisher grabbed seven.
• Fisher also dishes out a team-high six assists.
• With the loss, and MSU Denver, win the two teams move into a tie for fourth-place in the RMAC.
• Fort Lewis takes a 10-6 lead in the all-time series.

Up Next: Black Hills State will battle the Grizzlies of Adams State (8-17, 6-13 RMAC) tomorrow with a 7:30 p.m. tip-off from Alamosa, Colorado.