SPEARFISH, S.D. – A match-up of the top-2 teams in the RMAC nearing the midway point of the conference schedule lived up to its hype as a thriller, however, the Black Hills State University men's basketball team suffered a heartbreaking 78-76 defeat to league-leading Fort Lewis. The Yellow Jackets broke open a double digit lead in the opening half and pushed it to as many as 19 points early in the second half, but the Skyhawks weathered the storm of one of the RMAC's toughest environments to go on a 20-9 scoring run down the stretch. FLC took advantage of a turnover with just 1.3 seconds remaining and were able to make the game-winning layup with less than a second to play, snapping an 11-game home win streak for the Green & Gold, a win streak that stood for nearly a full calendar year.
 
QUICK DETAILS
Score: No. 15 Black Hills State, 76, Fort Lewis 78
Team Records: No. 15 Black Hills State 13-3 (6-2 RMAC), Fort Lewis 10-5 (7-0 RMAC)
Attendance: 2,013
 
HOW IT HAPPENED

• The scoring in the game began with a step-through left-handed layup by Massal Diouf just 16 seconds into the game for Fort Lewis, and Black Hills State would answer on their opening possession as Cam Lowe stepped to the free throw line and knocked down a pair to tie the game at 19:13 left in the first half. After a back-and-forth opening minutes of action, the Skyhawks held control with an 11-7 lead as Stewart Erhart converted an and-one after a right-handed layup with 15:09 on the clock.
• Over the next six minutes, the Yellow Jackets gained the lead and swung the momentum with a 13-2 scoring run, sparked by a right-wing 3-pointer by Lowe off a cross court pass from Jack Haggett with 14:50 to play in the first half. The run was capped by another bucket by Lowe who sunk a turnaround right-handed jumper in the paint to make it a 20-13 game with 9:37 left on the clock.
• Despite another old-fashioned 3-point play for the Skyhawks and Keither Florence, the Yellow Jackets continued the scoring run, extending it to 20-5 as the lead grew to double digits on a right-corner 3-pointer from BJ Woodruff off an assist from Blake Volmer, pushing the lead to 27-16 with 6:05 remaining in the opening half.
• The final minutes of the opening half saw the Green & Gold push the lead to as many as 14 points on three occasions, before Florence went 1-of-2 at the charity stripe with eight seconds remaining to make it a 40-27 game at the halftime break.
• The second half began with another and-one play, this time as Haggett took the ball tough to the rim as Lowe pushed the ball up the court after securing the defensive rebound. Haggett's free throw then pushed the BHSU lead to 16 points (43-27) less than a minute out of the halftime break. The and-one would be the start of an 8-2 scoring run for the Green & Gold as they took their largest lead of the game at 19 points (48-29) as Lowe again pushed the ball forward off a defensive rebound and recorded the fastbreak assist as Myles Johnson laid the ball off the glass and in with 17:10 to play in the game.
• Following a Skyhawk timeout, FLC answered with a 7-0 scoring run as Trey Curry made a right-handed hook shot just inside the right block to trim the lead to 12 points (48-36) with 15:22 to play. The BHSU lead still remained in double figures until a second Fort Lewis scoring run (9-2) as Curry hit another turnaround jumper from the left-block with 8:40 remaining in the contest, cutting the lead down to just six points (56-50).
• Black Hills State took one final double digit lead with 6:33 on the clock as Jaeton Hackley sank a triple from the top of the key off a kick out pass from Lowe, making it a 64-54 game. Fort Lewis continued to chip away at the Black Hills State lead, going on a 20-9 scoring run over the next five and a half minutes and taking a 74-73 lead as Florence converted another and-one opportunity with just 1:04 remaining. It was the first lead for FLC since just under 14 minutes remaining in the first half.
• Hackley evened the game at 74 apiece with 44 seconds left on the clock as he split a pair of free throws and then Lowe knocked down 2-of-2 at the charity stripe with 6.7 seconds remaining to put BHSU back in front 76-74.
• A foul with 1.3 seconds to go on a drive to the basket gave Curry a pair of free throws and he took advantage and went 2-of-2 to even the game at 76 apiece. A turnover on the inbounds pass then gave the Skyhawks an opportunity for a play under their own basket to win the game, and Curry found Florence off a screen for a layup with 0.4 seconds remaining.

BLACK HILLS STATE STATISTICAL LEADERS
Cam Lowe: 25 points, 7-of-11 field goals, 4-of-8 3-pointers, 7-of-10 free throws, 7 rebounds, 3 assists
Myles Johnson: 14 points, 5-of-12 field goals, 1-of-4 3-pointers, 3-of-4 free throws, 8 rebounds, 1 block, 1 steal
Jaeton Hackley: 10 points, 3-of-4 field goals, 1-of-2 3-pointers, 3-of-4 free throws, 2 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal
 
UP NEXT
No. 15 Black Hills State is back on the road again next week, heading west and visiting Colorado Mesa on Thursday, January 22, for a 7:30 p.m. tip-off in Brownson Arena. The game is available for live stream on the RMAC Network and is also available on KDSJ Radio.
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