SPEARFISH, S.D. – The No. 17 Black Hills State University men's basketball team will look to end the opening weekend in the Auraria Event Center in Denver with an unblemished record as they take on Texas A&M International on Monday afternoon. Both the Yellow Jackets and Dustdevils had an efficient quartet pacing the offense to season opening victories on Sunday afternoon, as BHSU scored 86 points on 51.7 percent shooting while TAMIU scored 107 points on 59.3 percent shooting from the field.
 
KNOW BEFORE YOU GO
Date/Time/Location: Monday, November 17 / 1 p.m. / Denver, Colo.  / Auraria Event Center
 
RMAC Network: Beginning in the 2025-26 season the RMAC Network will now move to Pay-Per-View. Fans can purchase a single game pass ($10), monthly ($25) or annual subscription ($130). Individuals with bhsu.edu or yellowjackets.bhsu.edu email address can still take advantage of the Peak Pricing Promotion by using the code Y26-RMACEDU.
 
KDSJ Radio: Black Hills State men's basketball continues to air live on KDSJ Radio with the voice of the Yellow Jackets, Steve Ammerman, giving the play-by-play for all the action.
 
#17 BLACK HILLS STATE STORYLINES

• Black Hills State enters game number two of the season with a record of 1-0 (0-0 RMAC) after they used a 33-5 scoring run midway through the game to defeat Sul Ross State by a score of 86-54 on Sunday afternoon. The win marked their second straight season opening victory and their fourth in the last five seasons.
• In the win over the Lobos the quartet of Myles Johnson, Jack Haggett, Willie Patterson III, and BJ Woodruff combined for 56 points on 21-of-27 (77.8%) shooting from the field.
• BHSU improved to 12-1 in their last 13 games against the Lone Star Conference.
• The Yellow Jackets enter the 2025-26 season off an 18-12 (13-7 RMAC) record in 2024-25 where they finished in a tie for third in the league standings, their seventh consecutive top-4 finish in the conference.
• In the 2025 RMAC Tournament the Yellow Jackets advanced to the semifinals for the fifth consecutive season where they ultimately fell to No. 9/9 Colorado School of Mines 77-64.
• Dating back to last season the Green & Gold are 9-3 in their last 12 games overall, with a pair of those loses coming to a top-10 nationally ranked Colorado School of Mines squad.
• BHSU joins only Colorado School of Mines and Colorado Mesa as the only three schools to win 13 or more conference games in each of the last four seasons.
• The Yellow Jackets enter the 2025-26 season as the preseason favorites in the RMAC and are ranked No. 17 in the NABC Preseason Coaches' Poll.
• Black Hills State returns three all-conference players from a year ago, as Cam Lowe was named First Team All-RMAC and RMAC Freshman of the Year, while Jaeton Hackley and Tristan Hurdle were named Honorable Mention All-RMAC. All three of those student-athletes were named to the 2025-26 Preseason All-RMAC team.
• The Yellow Jackets return seven players who started a game last season, and they return ten players in total from last season.
• The Green & Gold bring back a wealth of talent as they return their leading scorer (Lowe) and four of their top-5 scorers, they return their leading rebounder (Lowe) and four of their top-5 rebounders, they return their leading assister (Hackley) and four of their top-5 assist leaders, they return their leader in steals (Hackley) and four of their top-5 steals leaders, and lastly they return four of their top-6 block leaders from last season.
• The Green & Gold shot 31-of-60 (51.7%) from the field in the season opener against Sul Ross State. In 2024-25 the Yellow Jackets shot the ball better than 50 percent in 12 games, going 11-1 in those match-ups.
• BHSU connected on ten or more 3-pointers as a team 17 times in 2024-25, going 12-5 in those contests. The Yellow Jackets went 11-of-33 from beyond the arc in game one of the 2025-26 season against the Lobos.
• Black Hills State went 13-of-13 from the charity stripe against SRSU, the most made free throws in a game without a miss in the DII era for the Yellow Jackets.
• Myles Johnson had a breakout performance in his first game back on the court against SRSU, scoring a career-high 18 points on 7-of-8 shooting from the floor. He missed all of 2024-25 due to injury but averaged 4.7 points and 1.9 rebounds in 2023-24.
• Making their Yellow Jacket debuts, transfers Willie Patterson III and Jackson Seale provided added production to an already talented group of returners. Patterson recorded a double-double in his first game with the program with 12 points and 11 rebounds, while Seale added eight points, four rebounds, and four assists.
• In his first game in year two with the Yellow Jackets, the reigning RMAC Freshman of the Year, Cam Lowe, scored in double figures for the 25^th time in his career as he scored ten points and added eight rebounds and four assists. The First Team All-RMAC and Second Team All-South Central Region selection averaged 15.7 points and 7.9 rebounds per game last season, posting eight double-doubles on the year. He scored in double figures 24 times and reached the 20-point mark ten times. He poured in a career-best 28 points in an overtime comeback win at UCCS, shooting 7-of-9 from the field and 6-of-7 from 3-point range. He also posted one of the best 3-point shooting performances in school history against Adams State, going a perfect 7-of-7 from beyond the arc. He enters the season as the active leading career scorer in the RMAC, tied for active lead in career rebounds, and is the leagues' top free throw shooter as he is 83.7 percent from the charity stripe in his career.
• Scoring nine points, grabbing eight rebounds and dishing out four assists, Hackley, a Preseason All-RMAC selection returns as the team's facilitator of the offense. He returns as the team leader in assists with 3.7 per game a year ago. Defensively he also led the team with 1.3 steals per game. He added 11.8 points per game as he scored in double figures 20 times, notching a career-best 24 points in a regular season conference game at Colorado School of Mines as he went 7-of-13 from the floor, 3-of-3 from deep, and 7-of-7 at the charity stripe. He dished out five or more assists on 11 occasions.
• While he was unable to connect from deep in just six minutes of playing time in the season opener, Preseason All-RMAC selection Hurdle has emerged as one of the top sharpshooters in the nation as he led NCAA Division II with a 3-point percentage of 47.6 on 70-of-143 shooting from beyond the arc in 2024-25. He scored in double figures in 13 games, including a career-best 27 points on 8-of-12 shooting from deep against Regis at home. In total he connected on four or more 3-pointers eight times a year ago.
• Ryan Thompson enters his eighth season as the head coach at Black Hills State, guiding the Yellow Jackets to a record of 140-66 during his career.

TEXAS A&M INTERNATIONAL STORYLINES

• Texas A&M International earned a 107-96 win over the conference challenge hosts of MSU Denver on Sunday afternoon for their first season opening win since 2023-24 and their fourth in the last five years.
• With the 107 points in the season opener, TAMIU reached the century mark for the first time since they scored 114 in a win over Southwestern Adventist on December 15, 2022.
• The Dustdevils were picked to finish tenth in the Lone Star Conference Preseason Poll, and they received one first place vote.
• With the Dustdevils losing the top-2 scorers from last season, Caylen Goff-Brown was named the Texas A&M International player to watch in the preseason LSC release, as he entered the season as the leading returning scorer after averaging 9.7 points on 42.5 percent shooting from the field, 40.3 percent shooting from 3-point range, and 85.3 percent shooting from the charity stripe. He scored 18 points in the season opening win over MSUD, shooting 5-of-8 from the field, 2-of-3 from deep, and 6-of-6 from the charity stripe.
• Transfers Jamyier Patton and Gaius M'Ella led the offensive attack for TAMIU on Sunday afternoon in Denver. Patton, a junior transfer from SUNY Niagra, scored 24-points on 7-of-14 shooting from the field, 3-of-5 shooting from beyond the arc, and 7-of-11 shooting from the free throw line, while also dishing out a team-best six assists. M'Ella, a junior transfer from Colby Community College, scored 20 points on 8-of-11 shooting from the field, 2-of-3 shooting from beyond the arc, and 2-of-2 shooting from the free throw line.
• Against the Roadrunners, the quartet of Patton, M'Ella, Goff Brown, and Peyton Gusters combined for 79 points on 26-of-39 (66.7%) shooting from the field, 8-of-12 (66.7%) shooting from beyond the arc, and 19-of-25 (76.0%) shooting from the free throw line.
• Mac McConnell is in his sixth season as the head coach at Texas A&M International, guiding the Dustdevils to a 64-70 record, while overall he is in his eighth season as a collegiate head coach with a 77-109 record after two prior seasons at East Central.

SERIES HISTORY

• Monday marks the second all-time meeting between Black Hills State and Texas A&M International, with the Dustdevils holding a 1-0 advantage in the series.
• TAMIU earned a 72-42 win in the lone match-up between the teams on November 12, 2016, in Laredo, Texas.