GOLDEN, Colo. – The Black Hills State University men's basketball team was unable to spoil the party once again for a nationally ranked (No. 8/10) Colorado School of Mines squad as the Orediggers prevailed by a score of 87-77 on Thursday night in Lockridge Arena. After trailing by as many as seven points late in the first half, Mines used a 10-2 run capped by a basket in the closing seconds to take a one point lead into the break and they later extended their lead to double digits as they out-scored the Yellow Jackets 47-38 in the second half.
 
QUICK DETAILS
Score: Black Hills State 77, No. 8/10 Colorado School of Mines 87
Team Records: Black Hills State 13-10 (9-6 RMAC), No. 8/10 Colorado School of Mines 20-3 (14-1 RMAC)
Attendance: 477
 
HOW IT HAPPENED

• Cam Lowe answered the opening basket of the game by Majok Deng with a reverse layup over his left shoulder after taking the pass from Joel Speckman in the paint, giving each team a bucket on their opening possession and making it a 2-2 ball game just 45 seconds in. After trailing 5-2, back-to-back 3-pointers by Caelin Hearne and Lowe sparked a 9-0 scoring run that was capped by an and-one by Jaeton Hackley to put the Yellow Jackets in front 11-5 with 16:56 to play in the opening half.
• BHSU held a six point advantage (15-9) following a right-handed layup by Speckman as Hackley found him running towards the rim after breaking some pressure from the Orediggers with 15:37 remaining, however, CSM began to chip away and out-scored the Green & Gold 15-7 to regain the lead at 24-22 as Jonathan Moore grabbed his own miss at the right-block and went back up and in off the glass with 10:26 on the clock. Ending a more than three minute scoring drought for Black Hills State at the tail end of the run was Speckman on a turnaround left-handed hook shot on the left-block to even the score at 24 apiece with 9:52 left in the first half. The basket by Speckman to tie the contest sparked a 10-2 scoring run for BHSU which saw Jack Haggett hit a pair of 3-pointers from the left-wing, as the Yellow Jackets pushed their lead back to six points (32-26) with 7:15 left on the clock.
• In the closing minutes of the first half as the teams went back-and-forth, a left-wing 3-pointer by Hackley after taking the screen from Haggett gave the Yellow Jackets their largest lead of the day (37-30) with 4:29 remaining in the first half. Following that point Colorado School of Mines used a 10-2 scoring run to take a 40-39 advantage into the halftime break as Alex Romack powered up and under with the left-handed reverse layup on the left-block with just eight seconds remaining off an assist from Cade Mankle.
• The Orediggers continued their scoring run with the opening basket of the second half with a left-handed layup by Riley Schroeder off the steal and assist by Mankle just 25 seconds into the frame. A top of the key 3-pointer by BJ Woodruff off the assist from Hackley evened the game at 44 apiece with 18:26 to play, however, the ensuing possession an answer by Schroeder with his own shot from beyond the arc in the right-corner off a kick-out pass by Grant Pressly gave Colorado School of Mines the lead for good (47-44) with 18:04 on the clock.
• Mines began to create separation in the scoring margin in the second half following the 3-pointer by Schroeder as they out-scored BHSU 17-6 in just over six minutes of action as a 3-pointer by Caleb Clark on the left-wing off a transition bounce pass from Mankle made it a double digit game (61-50) with 11:54 to play.
• The Yellow Jackets would trim the deficit down to six points on three occasions. First a fastbreak left-handled layup by Hackley with 10:54 to play to make it 61-55, then a 3-pointer by Tristan Hurdle on the right-wing off a transition pass from Hackley to make it 70-64 with 7:15 remaining, and lastly a pair of free throws by Hackley with 3:48 left on the clock to make it 78-72.
• Despite trimming the deficit to six on three occasions, the Orediggers would have an answer each time and extended their lead to as many as 12 points three times, first as Schroeder made a pair of free throws with 5:27 to play to make it a 76-54 game, then Regan Koch made a pair of free throws with 57 seconds remaining to make it 85-73 and then once again with 46 seconds remaining to make it 87-75.
• Hackley closed out the scoring for both teams with two free throws with 39 seconds remaining to reach a new career-high of 24 points and bring the final score to 87-77.

BLACK HILLS STATE STATISTICAL LEADERS
Jaeton Hackley: 24 points, 3-of-3 3-pointers, 6 assists, 2 rebounds
Cam Lowe: 11 points, 4 assists, 3 rebounds, 1 steal
Joel Speckman: 11 points, 5-of-6 field goals, 5 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 steal
Jack Haggett: 10 points, 2-of-2 3-pointers, 2 rebounds
 
UP NEXT
Black Hills State will close out their weekend in the Denver metro area on Saturday, February 15, as they face Regis at 3 p.m. in the Regis Field House.
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