The No. 21 Black Hills State University men’s basketball team found their shooting grove once again as they rolled to an 85-63 victory over Colorado Mesa. The Yellow Jackets matched an all-time school record of 19 made 3-pointers, done just once before in a March 1, 2022, contest against New Mexico Highlands, as they shot a red-hot 50.0 percent on 38 attempts. Leading the way as BHSU handed the Mavericks their first home loss of the season was Cam Lowe who scored a career-best 31 points on 12-of-15 shooting from the field and 7-of-10 shooting from 3-point range as he paced five scorers in double figures. Additionally, the offense dished out 24 assists on 31 made field goal attempts, marking the fourth time this season with 24 or more assists in a game.
QUICK DETAILS
Score: No. 21 Black Hills State 85, Colorado Mesa 63
Team Records: No. 21 Black Hills State 14-3 (7-2 RMAC), Colorado Mesa 10-7 (6-3 RMAC)
Attendance: 1,107
HOW IT HAPPENED
- Colorado Mesa began the contest with a mid-range jumper by Clayton Jewell from the free throw line off a Harvey White assist on their opening possession, however, Black Hills State responded with three consecutive 3-pointers to begin the game. Cam Lowe began his career night with baskets from the top of the key and the left corner on the Yellow Jackets first two possessions off assists from Jack Haggett and Jackson Seale. Then BJ Woodruff gave the Green & Gold their third triple, this time from the right-corner as he received a kickout pass from Seale to make it a 9-4 game with 18:01 left in the first half.
- Midway through the opening half, Lowe connected on his third shot from beyond the arc, this one off a handoff at the top of the key from Joel Speckman to make it a 17-12 advantage for BHSU with 9:06 to play. The basket was the first in a stretch where the Yellow Jackets made 8-of-10 from the field, including knocking down four straight attempts from 3-point range, as they outscored the Mavericks 22-11 over a more than six and a half minute stretch. It was Woodruff who drained the fourth consecutive 3-pointer, a left-corner triple off a kickout pass from Jaeton Hackley, to make it 34-23 with 3:08 left on the clock. Then Haggett pushed the lead to 13 points (36-23), the largest of the first half, as he sank a pair of free throws with 2:43 remaining till halftime.
- Colorado Mesa ended the first half with five consecutive points from a pair of free throws from Jewell with 47.4 seconds left on the clock and a left-wing 3-pointer from Harvey White with 6.0 seconds left to make it a 36-28 game at the halftime break.
- Lowe sank his fourth 3-pointer of the day to begin the scoring with a right-wing triple off a kickout pass from Haggett to make it 39-28 with 18:35 to play. Then minutes later a fastbreak layup by Lowe off a defensive rebound and pass forward from Haggett pushed the lead to double digits for good at 43-33 with 16:06 to play. The fastbreak layup was also the beginning of a 15-2 scoring run, as Woodruff capped it with his fourth 3-pointer of the contest on a left-corner triple off an assist from Tristan Hurdle to make it a 21 point advantage (56-35) with 13:18 remaining in the game.
- Late in the contest, an 8-0 scoring run with back-to-back 3-pointers by Hurdle and Haggett from the right and left corners respectively would match the school’s all-time 3-point field goal record of 19 made in the contest with 3:47 to play in the game and an 83-57 lead. The scoring run came to a close as Lowe made the final basket of the match-up for the Yellow Jackets, hitting a fadeaway left-elbow jumper to give BHSU their largest lead of the game at 28 points (85-57) with 2:30 left on the clock.
- The Mavericks scored the final six points of the game, first with a pair of free throws from Ty Allred with 1:58 to play and then jumpers from Tevin Riehl and Ben Henderson in the final minute to bring the final score to 85-63.
BLACK HILLS STATE STATISTICAL LEADERS
Cam Lowe: 31 points, 12-of-15 field goals, 7-of-10 3-pointers, 4 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals
Jack Haggett: 14 points, 4-of-7 field goals, 2-of-4 3-pointers, 4-of-4 free throws, 6 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals
BJ Woodruff: 14 points, 5-of-10 field goals, 4-of-8 3-pointers, 3 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals
Jaeton Hackley: 12 points, 5-of-9 field goals, 2-of-3 3-pointers, 1 rebound, 6 assists, 1 steal
Tristan Hurdle: 11 points, 4-of-11 field goals, 3-of-7 3-pointers, 3 rebounds, 2 assists
UP NEXT
No. 21 Black Hills State plays the second game of a 3-game road swing on Saturday, January 24, as they visit Western Colorado for a 3 p.m. game in Paul Wright Gym in Gunnison, Colorado. The game will be available streaming live on the RMAC Network and also on KDSJ Radio.
