GOLDEN, Colo. – The 2024-25 season came to a close for the Black Hills State University men's basketball team as they fell to No. 9/9 Colorado School of Mines by a score of 77-64 in the semifinals of the RMAC Tournament in Lockridge Arena on Friday night. The Yellow Jackets showed a strong start with an early 4-0 lead and keeping the Orediggers off the scoreboard for nearly the first four minutes of the contest, however, a commanding 30-7 scoring run by Mines was too much for BHSU to overcome. The Green & Gold were briefly able to trim the deficit down to five points in the early minutes of the second half with an 18-3 scoring run of their own, but the veteran led CSM squad would go on to shoot the ball 51.6 percent from the field and secure their spot in the conference title game.
 
QUICK DETAILS
Score: Black Hills State 64, #9/9 Colorado School of Mines 77
Team Records: Black Hills State 18-12 (13-7 RMAC), #9/9 Colorado School of Mines 26-4 (18-2 RMAC)
Attendance: 1,256
 
HOW IT HAPPENED

• With a pair of free throws by Jaeton Hackley on the opening possession and a reverse layup by Joel Speckman a few minutes later, Black Hills State took an early 4-0 advantage with 17:26 to play in the first half and held Colorado School of Mines scoreless the first 3:51 of game time.
• Beginning with a left-wing 3-pointer by Markus Pastorcic-Straun scoring the first points of the contest for the Oregdiggers with 16:08 remaining in the first half, it sparked a response that would be insurmountable for the Yellow Jackets. Mines would go on a 25-4 scoring run over the next 7:29, which included 5-of-6 shooting from beyond the arc as the deficit grew to 17 points at 25-8 with 8:39 left on the clock.
• In the midst of the Colorado School of Mines scoring run was a top of the key 3-pointer by Cam Lowe with 7:01 to play in the first half, snapping a drought of 8:08 without a made field goal for BHSU.
• The run would grow to as many as 30-7 for the Orediggers as back-to-back jumpers by RMAC Player of the Year, Majok Deng, pushed the lead to 19 points (30-11) with 5:07 to play in the opening half.
• The Yellow Jackets closed the first half of action on an 11-3 scoring run of their own to cut into the deficit, starting with a pull up mid-range jumper from the left side of the court by Lowe with 4:18 on the clock. The deficit was down to 11 points (32-21) with a top of the key 3-pointer by Tristan Hurdle off an assist from John Shanklin, however with just two seconds to play till the break, Pastorcic-Straun went 1-of-2 at the charity stripe to make it a 33-21 ball game.
• The momentum carried into the second half for Black Hills State as seven unanswered points pushed the scoring run to 18-3 and cut the deficit down to just five points (33-28) with 17:13 to play in the game. The second half started with a fastbreak dunk by Speckman with the right-hand off the assist from Woodruff, then Woodruff added a floater in the paint and a top of the key 3-pointer off an assist from Hackley to cap the run.
• Five points would be all the closer that BHSU would be able to get in the second half, as Colorado School of Mines answered with an 8-2 run that made it a 41-30 ball game with 13:46 on the clock.
• The next few minutes of action saw the teams go back-and-forth and the lead teeter back-and-forth from single digits to double digits, until a 3-pointer by Reagan Koch from the left-wing off an assist from Grant Pressly made it a double digit game for good with 9:42 to play in the contest.
• Using another scoring run of 16-8, the Orediggers led by as many as 17 points (64-47) late in the contest as Adam Krasovec hit a turnaround mid-range jumper from the right side of the court off an assist from Alex Romack with 6:40 remaining in the game.
• The Yellow Jackets trimmed the deficit back to 11 points as they outscored Mines 17-11 over the next six minutes, as all 17 points came from the trio of Lowe, Caelin Hearne, and Hackley. Hackley added one final basket for the Green & Gold with a driving layup from the left-wing to make it 75-64 before a pair of free throws by Deng capped the scoring in the contest. 

BLACK HILLS STATE STATISTICAL LEADERS
Cam Lowe: 21 points, 7-of-7 free throws, 7 rebounds, 1 block, 1 steal
BJ Woodruff: 11 points, 2-of-3 3-pointers, 3 rebounds, 2 assists
Jaeton Hackley: 10 points, 2-of-2 free throws, 10 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals
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