SPEARFISH, S.D. – A trio of Yellow Jackets score in double digits in front of the home crowd for the final time this season as the Black Hills State men’s basketball team (17-12, 14-8 RMAC) takes down the No. 5-seed MSU Denver Roadrunners (19-10, 13-9 RMAC) Tuesday night in the Quarterfinals of the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference (RMAC) Tournament.
The two teams traded buckets early in the contest as BHSU held an 8-6 lead at the first media time out of the night. With just over 13 minutes left in the first half, the Roadrunners would take their final lead of the night at 11-10 before Matthew Ragsdale (Gr., Colorado Springs, Colo.) knocked down his lone three of the night to give Black Hills State their final lead of the night. That would spark a 9-0 run as the Yellow Jackets would open a 19-11 lead at the midway point of the first half.
MSU Denver would pull to within four points soon thereafter, but before long BH opened up their first double-digit lead at 33-22 with a Hoku Fisher (So., Wilmington, N.C.) jumper. The Yellow Jackets would lead by as many as 12 points in the first half, but MSU Denver would cut the halftime lead to single digits at nine, 39-30.
The second half saw the Jackets keep the Roadrunners at arms length most of the first 10 minutes, as MSU Denver never got to within more than seven points in that span. Black Hills State would lead by 12 points, 58-46, at the midway point but a six-point swing for the Roadrunners would cut that lead to just four points with seven and a half minutes to play. Caelin Hearne (Jr., Norman, Okla.) and Fisher would take over, combining to score the next eight Yellow Jacket points to keep the Roadrunners from drawing even.
Again, down the stretch, MSUD would pull to within just four points at 71-67 with a minute and a half to play, but a jumper from Ragsdale and Ronnail Tape (Jr., Fort Myers, Fla.) hitting a pair of free throws would stave off the final push from the Roadrunners, as BHSU advances to their fourth-straight RMAC Semifinals with a 75-72 victory in the final game inside A2 Arena this season.
Meanwhile,
ALAMOSA, Colo. – Despite 20 points from Morgan Hammerbeck, the Black Hills State University women’s basketball team (17-10, 14-8 RMAC) bowed out of the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference (RMAC) tournament with a 83-63 loss to No. 3-seeded Adams State (24-7, 18-4 RMAC) in a white out crowd inside a full Plachy Arena.
It was a back and forth first quarter on the campus of Adams State University on the first night of the RMAC tournament. Neither side would lead by more than three points in the first 10 minutes, as a lay-up from Alessia Capley (Gr., Arvada, Colo.) would give BHSU their first lead of the night at 11-9 with less than a minute left in the frame. Adams State would draw even before the end of the quarter, as it would be knotted up at 11-11 heading into the second quarter.
Back-to-back deep balls for the Grizzlies to open the second quarter saw them jump out to a 17-11 advantage in front of the home crowd. Black Hills State would cut that lead down to one-point at 20-19 with a Haylee Weathersby (Jr., Glendale, Ariz.) lay-up. Adams State would go on a 10-0 run over the next two minutes or so, pulling out to a 30-19 lead with three minutes to play in the half. The Yellow Jackets would respond to that with seven-straight points of their own with five of those points coming from Hammerbeck (Sr., Hamill, S.D.). The Grizzlies would build their lead back up to nine points by the halftime break, leading 35-26.
The third quarter would be won by the home squad with the Grizzlies outscoring BHSU 26-17 in the frame to lead by 18 heading into the final 10 minutes. Adams State would push their lead up to as many as 18 points in the third, leading 61-43 after three full quarters.
The Grizzlies would keep the pressure on in the fourth quarter, going on to take the Quarterfinal win, 83-63.
