DURANGO, Colo. – Despite the Black Hills State University men's basketball team out-shooting Fort Lewis from the field and from beyond the arc in the game, the Skyhawks took advantage of their trips to the charity stripe (25-of-32) and escaped with an 82-73 RMAC victory in Whalen Gymnasium on Saturday afternoon. The Yellow Jackets led by seven at the halftime break and as many as nine points early on in the second half, but FLC found a spark to out-score BHSU by 16 in the final 20 minutes of action while shooting the ball 61.5 percent from the field.
 
QUICK DETAILS
Score: Black Hills State 73, Fort Lewis 82
Team Records: Black Hills State 9-7 (5-3 RMAC), Fort Lewis 11-6 (5-3 RMAC)
Attendance: 577
 
HOW IT HAPPENED

• Joel Speckman started the scoring in the match-up, snagging a pass from Jaeton Hackley on the left-block and getting the layup to go between a pair of defenders just 38 seconds into the game. However, after Fort Lewis answered on the ensuing possession, the teams struggled to find the bottom of the basket in the first eight minutes of the game as BHSU proceeded to shoot 2-of-11 from the field and FLC shot just 3-of-13 as the Skyhawks held the 10-8 advantage entering the under-12 media timeout.
• Out of the under-12 media timeout, the Yellow Jacket offense began to find a spark as Deegan Williams fired a pass from across halfcourt to a wide open Speckman for a 2-handed dunk after breaking the Fort Lewis press. Then Tristan Hurdle, one of the top bench players in the league, delivered another pair of big baskets from beyond the arc as he connected on a left-wing 3-pointer off an assist from Caelin Hearne and followed by a right-wing deep ball off the kickout pass from Speckman to cap an 8-3 run and give BHSU a 16-13 advantage with 8:16 to play in the first half.
• Fort Lewis briefly took a 17-16 lead off a pair of free throws from Tru Allen with 6:40 on the clock, but Hearne had an immediate answer as he knocked down a left-corner 3-pointer off a cross court pass from BJ Woodruff, giving Black Hills State the lead the remainder of the opening half. The Yellow Jackets did not lead by any more than four points up until the closing seconds of the half when Dawson Mohr hit a right-corner 3-pointer off a kickout pass from Williams, giving the Green & Gold a 36-29 advantage entering the locker room.
• Black Hills State took their largest lead of the game 13 seconds into the second half as Hearne found Speckman on a bounce pass between a pair of defenders under the basket before he added the layup to make it a 38-29 game. Fort Lewis, however, began to chip away with 3-pointers on back-to-back possessions by Biko Johnson and Chuol Deng, followed by a 2-handed dunk by Deng to cut their deficit to 43-37 and give the home team some momentum with 17:57 remaining.
• In a back-and-forth affair, the Yellow Jackets maintained their lead up until the 9:21 mark of the second half when Stewart Erhart made a right-handed driving layup from the left-wing to give the Skyhawks a 53-52 advantage.
• The margin in the contest remained at no more than four points until FLC then began to slowly extend their lead, starting with a top of the key 3-pointer by Malachi Coleman to double Fort Lewis' lead to six (67-61) with 5:38 to play. After trailing by as many as eight points, BHSU got back within striking distance late as John Shanklin grabbed a crucial offensive rebound and scored on the put back to make it just a three point game (74-71) with 1:10 left on the clock. Three points, however, would be all the closer the Green & Gold could get as an and-one the ensuing possession by Allen started an 8-2 scoring run for the Skyhawks to close the game for an 82-73 victory. 

BLACK HILLS STATE STATISTICAL LEADERS
Caelin Hearne: 17 points, 2-of-3 3-pointers, 3 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 blocks, 1 steal
Tristan Hurdle: 12 points, 4-of-5 3-pointers, 5 rebounds, 1 block
Cam Lowe: 11 points, 10 rebounds, 1 assist
Joel Speckman: 10 points, 5-of-8 field goals, 5 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 block
 
UP NEXT
Black Hills State returns home to Spearfish this upcoming weekend when they host Colorado Mesa on Thursday, January 23, for a 7 p.m. tip-off in A2 Arena.
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