The No. 20 Black Hills State University men’s basketball team secured their fourth 20-win season in a 7-year stretch on Saturday afternoon as ran away with an 84-51 victory over Regis in A2 Arena. The Yellow Jackets used the hot-shooting hand of Tristan Hurdle, who tied for the second-most made 3-pointers by an individual in a single game in school history by knocking down 8-of-11 in the contest. He matches his own career-high of eight set last year against Regis on January 9, 2025, and a shooting performance by PJ Hayes against South Dakota Mines on January 20, 2022. As a team, the Green & Gold shot 47.5 percent from distance, tying a school-record of 19 made shots from distance for the second time within the last month. Additionally, leading to the efficient shooting, BHSU dished out 24 assists in the match-up as they recorded 20 or more for the 12th time this season and are 12-0 in such contests now.
QUICK DETAILS
Score: No. 20 Black Hills State 84, Regis 51
Team Records: No. 20 Black Hills State 20-4 (13-3 RMAC), Regis 2-20 (1-15 RMAC)
Attendance: 1,233
HOW IT HAPPENED
- Regis started the scoring in the contest with the games first four points with a reverse layup and a pull up left-elbow jumper by Cooper Frith for a 4-0 lead a minute in.
- Black Hills State responded after surrendering the first four points as Jack Haggett scored the first eight points of the game for the Green & Gold on an 8-2 scoring run, including connecting on back-to-back 3-pointers from the right-wing off assists by Jaeton Hackley to give BHSU an 8-6 lead with 17:08 to play in the first half.
- The Rangers, however, continued to battle in the early stage of the match-up, answering the Yellow Jacket run with six unanswered points as a tip-in layup by Dylan Forbord forced a BHSU timeout with 13:32 to play in the opening half as RU took a 12-8 lead.
- Following an old-fashioned 3-point play from Joel Speckman, the Yellow Jackets began to heat up from beyond the arc, knocking down three consecutive triples for a 12-0 rally that saw Cam Lowe find BJ Woodruff in the right-corner to cap the scoring run to make it 20-12 with 11:56 on the clock after Tristan Hurdle and Hackley found the bottom of the net the two previous possessions.
- Regis momentarily trimmed the lead back down to four points with another tip-in and a dunk by Rifky Sedhom and Luke Sodem respectively, but Black Hills State pushed the lead to double digits for good with a 9-0 scoring run. Hackley started the run with five straight points on a jumper in the paint and a right-corner 3-pointer, then Myles Johnson pushed the lead to 11 points (27-16) with a 2-handed dunk in transition off a Haggett steal and assist. The run came to a close with a layup by Lowe as Haggett found him for a driving right-handed layup after securing an offensive rebound to make it a 29-16 game with 8:10 to play till the halftime break.
- The Black Hills State lead grew to 17 points entering the locker room at 45-28 as they sank another four shots from distance, bringing their first half total to ten on 21 attempts for a 47.6 percent clip. While the BHSU defense held the Rangers without a made field goal the final four minutes of the first half, it was Jackson Seale who knocked down the trey to give the Green & Gold the 17 point advantage and capped the scoring in the opening half with 1:42 on the clock.
- Out of the halftime break, it took more than three minutes for both teams to knock down their first bucket of the second half, with the Rangers finding the bottom of the net first with a driving left-handed layup by Forbord off a pass from Frith with 16:56 to play and making the score 45-30. The Yellow Jackets were able to find their first basket of the second half with another 3-pointer from Seale as Lowe hit him on a kick-out pass to the left-wing with 16:14 on the clock to push the lead to 18 points (48-30).
- The opening 3-pointer of the second half by Seale would spark a 16-2 scoring run as the Yellow Jackets shooting would begin to heat up midway through the half.
- In the later stages of the run is when Hurdle would begin to take over, scoring 20 of the team’s 29 points over a more than six and a half minute stretch. During that time frame, the Yellow Jackets twice connected on four straight 3-point attempts. Hurdle first added three 3-pointers, alongside one from Blake Volmer, as the lead reached 30 points (67-37) on one of his treys from the right-wing with 10:12 left on the clock. Then during the second quartet of 3-pointers, Hurdle sank another trio of shots from distance, alongside one from Hackley, as the lead reached 40 points (81-41) as he hit his eighth triple of the night on a left-wing shot attempt off an assist from Seale with 6:11 to play.
- After Hurdle’s final 3-pointer of the night, the Rangers would close the game on a 10-3 scoring run over the final six minutes of action to make it an 84-51 final score. The Yellow Jackets would conclude their scoring with a second chance basket from Haggett as he threw down a 2-handed dunk with 2:34 to play after securing another offensive board.
BLACK HILLS STATE STATISTICAL LEADERS
Tristan Hurdle: 26 points, 9-of-12 field goals, 8-of-11 3-pointers, 6 rebounds, 3 assists
Jaeton Hackley: 16 points, 5-of-8 field goals, 4-of-6 3-pointers, 2-of-2 free throws, 3 rebounds, 5 assists, 1 steal
Myles Johnson: 12 points, 5-of-11 field goals, 1-of-4 3-pointers, 1-of-1 free throws, 5 rebounds (4 offensive), 1 assist, 1 steal
Jack Haggett: 10 points, 4-of-7 field goals, 2-of-4 3-pointers, 5 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 steal
UP NEXT
No. 20 Black Hills State will take to the road next weekend for a pair of match-ups against teams battling to solidify their spots in the RMAC Men’s Basketball Tournament, first visiting Adams State for a 7:30 p.m. contest on Thursday, February 19, in Plachy Hall in Alamosa, Colorado. The game will be available streaming live on the RMAC Network and on KDSJ Radio.
