GUNNISON, Colo. – The No. 21 Black Hills State University men's basketball team completed the weekend sweep in Colorado's Western Slope, pulling away from Western Colorado to secure an 86-76 RMAC victory in Paul Wright Gymnasium. As the shooting efficiency picked up in the second half for each team, a 66.7 percent clip from the field (18-27), along with a 13-5 advantage in points off turnovers in the final 20 minutes, allowed for the Yellow Jackets to gain a double digit edge in a contest that featured 19 lead changes.
 
QUICK DETAILS
Score: No. 21 Black Hills State 86, Western Colorado 76
Team Records: No. 21 Black Hills State 15-3 (8-2 RMAC), Western Colorado 6-12 (4-6 RMAC)
Attendance: 254
 
HOW IT HAPPENED

• Western Colorado jumped out of the gates with an early five points in the first couple of minutes, first with a step back left-wing 3-pointer from Mason Mottashed and a tip-in layup by Aidan McDowell to make it a 5-0 ball game with 18:03 left on the clock. The five point advantage would be the largest of the game for the Mountaineers. Black Hills State then answered with six unanswered points of their own with a pull up mid-range jumper from the top of the key from Jaeton Hackley, a left-handed layup by Myles Johnson, and a pair of free throws from Jack Haggett to make it a 6-5 lead for BHSU with 16:29 left on the first half clock.
• As the first half featured 15 lead changes and six ties, no one led by more than four points, which was a 23-19 advantage for the Mountaineers as Quincy Scott put in a right-handed layup off a pass to the backet by David Shelia, and then Shelia made a left-handed layup off a pass over the top from McDowell with 8:50 on the clock. The Yellow Jackets ended a nearly two and a half minute scoring drought as Hackley answered with a pull up jumper from the right-block with 8:40 remaining till the halftime break.
• BHSU held a lead of as many of three points in the opening half on a pair of occasions, both times within the final five minutes. The first came as Tristan Hurdle sank his third triple of the half, draining a left-wing jumper off a screen to make it a 30-27 contest with 4:44 to play. Then the Green & Gold took a 36-33 lead into the halftime break as Hurdle banked home a driving floater through the paint with 48 seconds to play for his team-leading 11 points in the first 20 minutes of action, bringing him within just three points of 1,000 in his collegiate career.
• Black Hills State continued the momentum into the second half, extending their scoring run to 8-0 as layups by Haggett and BJ Woodruff pushed the lead to 40-33 with 18:21 to play in the contest. Western Colorado then quickly responded to being down seven points, and answered with an 8-0 run of their own, powered by back-to-back 3-pointers by Scott and Jordan Kuac, while a right-handed hook shot by Dawlton Grant gave WCU the lead back at 41-40 with 17:09 to play.
• The lead exchanged hands three more times before a jumper inside the left-block by Johnson gave the Yellow Jackets the lead back for good with a 44-43 advantage with 16:15 remaining in the game. The bucket was the first in a 12-0 scoring run that broke the game open for the Green & Gold, helping them take control with an 11 point lead (54-43) as Johnson capped the run with a steal and 2-handed dunk with 14:07 to play.
• The Mountaineers briefly fought back to trim the lead back down to five points with six unanswered off an and-one by McDowell and a top of the key 3-pointer by Mottashed after a block by Kuac on the other end of the court, making it a 54-49 game with 12:51 remaining.
• The Yellow Jackets fully pushed the game out of reach with a 20-7 scoring run over a five and a half minute stretch later in the second half that was powered by nine points from Cam Lowe and six points from Hackley as BHSU went 7-of-7 from the field, 2-of-2 from beyond the arc, and 4-of-4 from the charity stripe during that time span. The lead for the Green & Gold reached its peak as Woodruff knocked down a right-corner 3-pointer off the extra pass from Hurdle, making it a 77-59 game with 6:25 remaining.
• One final time WCU clawed their way back to within single digits, as McDowell capped a 12-2 scoring run with a top of the key 3-pointer off a pass from Grant to make it 83-76 with just 2:24 to play.
• The final basket of the game came as Hackley knocked down the tenth triple of the night for the Yellow Jackets to make it 86-76 as Woodruff found him on the left-wing with 1:53 remaining on the clock.

BLACK HILLS STATE STATISTICAL LEADERS
Cam Lowe: 21 points, 7-of-15 field goals, 2-of-4 3-pointers, 5-of-5 free throws, 5 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal
Jaeton Hackley: 17 points, 8-of-12 field goals, 1-of-2 3-pointers, 7 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal
Myles Johnson: 13 points, 5-of-8 field goals, 3-of-3 free throws, 2 rebounds, 2 steals
Tristan Hurdle: 11 points, 4-of-7 field goals, 3-of-6 3-pointers, 2 rebounds, 2 assists
Jack Haggett: 8 points, 3-of-7 field goals, 2-of-2 free throws, 9 rebounds, 1 assist
 
UP NEXT
No. 21 Black Hills State closes out a 3-game road swing with the first of two rivalry games next week, traveling to Chadron State for a 7 p.m. tip-off in the Chicoine Center in Chadron, Nebraska, on Tuesday, January 27. The game will be available streaming live on the RMAC Network and also on KDSJ Radio.
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