SPEARFISH, S.D. – The second career double-double for redshirt-freshman Cam Lowe kept the Black Hills State University men's basketball team's upset bid alive a majority of the night against No. 22/RV MSU Denver, however, it wasn't enough as the Roadrunners came away with an 84-77 victory. The battle of RMAC contenders on Saturday afternoon in A2 Arena saw the Yellow Jackets battle back from an 11-point second half deficit to tie the game at 57 apiece with 13:01 to play with a 15-4 scoring run and then once again at 74 apiece with 3:08 remaining following a 9-0 run, but MSUD closed the match-up with a 10-3 rally of their own to remain one of two undefeated teams in league play through six contests.
 
QUICK DETAILS
Score: Black Hills State 77, No. 22/RV MSU Denver 84
Team Records: Black Hills State 8-6 (4-2 RMAC), No. 22/RV MSU Denver 12-2 (6-0 RMAC)
Attendance: 1,869
 
HOW IT HAPPENED

• Brayden Carter scored five of the first eight points for MSU Denver as the Roadrunners got out to an early 8-2 advantage with 17:19 remaining in the first half, however once again Tristan Hurdle lit an immediate spark off the bench in response for Black Hills State. With 17:02 on the clock he connected on a left-wing 3-pointer off an assist by Cam Lowe, picking up right where he left off on Thursday night, to spark a 13-4 scoring run. During the run a step back 3-pointer on the left-wing for Lowe gave BHSU their first lead of the game (13-12) with 13:55 to play in the half and then Caelin Hearne capped the run as he powered in for an up and under move for a tough right-handed layup to make it a 15-12 game with 13:18 on the clock.
• Following a driving right-handed layup by Jamil Safieddine to tie the game at 17 apiece with 11:58 to play till halftime, the Yellow Jackets scored five unanswered with three free throws by Lowe after he was fouled on a shot attempt from beyond the arc and then a running left-handed floater by John Shanklin off a bounce pass leading him to the rim by Jaeton Hackley to give the Green & Gold their largest lead of the game (22-17) with 10:42 remaining.
• The BHSU defense held MSUD without a made field goal for just over three minutes of playing time midway through the first half before Caleb McGill made a contested turnaround jumper off the left-block and added the free throw to convert the and-one. The old fashioned 3-point play sparked a 15-4 Roadrunner scoring run that was capped by Carter making a turnaround jumper in the paint to make it a 34-28 game with 5:06 on the clock.
• Hackley eventually stalled the MSU Denver run with a strong drive to the rim for a right-handed layup with 4:55 to play till the break as the teams began to go back-and-forth in the closing minutes. The Roadrunners stretched their lead to seven points, their largest lead of the first half, on two occasions in the final minutes. They first made it a seven point ball game with 1:16 left on the clock when Sufyan Elkannan knocked down a mid-range jumper on a baseline drive on the right side of the court, and then Logan Threatt beat the first half buzzer on a left-handed driving layup to give MSUD a 45-38 lead at the half
• Black Hills State scored the first four points of the second half, cutting the deficit back down to three points (45-42) as Hackley powered the ball up and in off the glass after receiving an inbounds pass from Lowe in the paint with 17:20 to play in the game.
• It wasn't until four minutes went by in the second half that MSU Denver scored their first points out of the halftime break as Quave Propst-Allison hit a fadeaway jumper in the paint to spark an 8-0 scoring run. Capping the run was an and-one by Carter with a left-handed layup and the free throw to make it 53-42, the largest lead of the game with 15:57 remaining in the match-up.
• The Yellow Jackets ended the Roadrunner scoring run with a responding and-one by Hackley as Lowe found him on the right-block for a layup. A 15-4 scoring run reached its peak and energized A2 Arena as Lowe and Hurdle connected on 3-pointers from the right and left-wing respectively on back-to-back possessions to tie the game at 57 with 13:01 to play.
• After the run to get the crowd into the game, the Roadrunners swung the momentum with a 17-8 run to take a 74-65 lead as McGill tallied a pair of free throws with 5:51 remaining on the clock as he took over late in the game. The Yellow Jackets, however, had one final surge as Hearne sparked a 9-0 run to answer, starting with a driving left-handed layup with 5:33 to play. Ending the BHSU run and tying the game one final time at 74 apiece was Hearne once again as he sank a step back mid-range jumper from just inside the 3-point arc on the left-wing with 3:08 remaining in the game.
• MSU Denver ended the game on a 10-3 scoring run, which included a key 3-pointer by McGill and 7-of-8 shooting from the charity stripe for the Roadrunners as they earned the 84-77 win on the road.

BLACK HILLS STATE STATISTICAL LEADERS
Cam Lowe: 23 points, 8-of-11 field goals, 10 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 blocks, 1 steal
Tristan Hurdle: 13 points, 3-of-6 3-pointers, 2 assists, 1 rebound
Jaeton Hackley: 11 points, 5 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals, 1 block
Caelin Hearne: 10 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals
 
UP NEXT
Black Hills State will take to the road for the first time in the 2025 calendar year as they visit New Mexico Highlands on Thursday, January 16, for a 7 p.m. tip-off in the John A. Wilson Complex in Las Vegas, New Mexico.
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