It was March basketball in its purist of forms on Tuesday night as the No. 13 Black Hills State University men’s basketball team overcame its second consecutive double digit halftime deficit to defeat UCCS 74-73 in the RMAC Men’s Basketball Tournament Quarterfinals in A2 Arena. The Yellow Jackets, who had swept the regular season series against the Mountain Lions, found themselves trailing by 15 points at the halftime break but used their defensive pressure to shut down the UCCS offense in the second half. The Green & Gold held the UCCS offense to just 36.7 percent shooting in the final 20 minutes and recorded seven of their 11 blocked shots in the game. The 11 blocked shots are the most in the school’s NCAA Division II era, and the second-most all-time in program history behind only a 17-block performance against Sioux Falls on January 21, 1994.
QUICK DETAILS
Score: No. 13 Black Hills State 74, UCCS 73
Team Records: No. 13 Black Hills State 25-4 (17-3 RMAC), UCCS 15-14 (10-10 RMAC)
Attendance: 2,873
HOW IT HAPPENED
- Cam Lowe opened the scoring just 14 seconds into the contest with a step back jumper from the right-elbow, however, UCCS answered with a left-wing 3-pointer by Xavier Martinez which sparked an 11-0 scoring run to take control early in the contest. It was a right-handed layup by Marzouq Ibn Abdur-Razaaq with 16:24 to play in the opening half that pushed the Mountain Lion lead to 11-2 and forced a Yellow Jacket timeout.
- The Green & Gold briefly responded to the Mountain Lion scoring run with a mini 6-2 run that saw a steal off the inbounds pass and a fastbreak right-handed layup by Myles Johnson to trim the deficit to 13-8 with 14:17 to play.
- After Black Hills State clawed to within five points, UCCS stretched their advantage to double digits, out-scoring the Yellow Jackets 26-13 over the next 12:28 of game time to take a 39-21 advantage. The 18 point lead was the largest of the match-up for UCCS as Martinez converted the old-fashioned 3-point play by sinking a free throw with 1:49 left in the first half.
- A right-handed layup by Jackson Seale rolled into the hoop with 1:02 left on the clock after a pick and roll play with Lowe to bring the Yellow Jackets within 15 points at 41-26 entering the halftime break.
- After ending the last couple of minutes of the first half with a 5-2 scoring run, Black Hills State added to it with a 17-5 scoring run the first 5:51 of the second half, bringing the scoring run to 22-7 the 7:29 of game time after UCCS’ lead reach its peak of 18 points. Jaeton Hackley opened the scoring in the second half by taking the ball directly to the rim, rejecting a screen on the left-wing and then taking the ball to the hoop for a reverse layup and his first points of the game just ten seconds out of the halftime break. The scoring run came to a close as Joel Speckman recorded a block, Hackley picked up the rebound and pushed the ball in transition to find Haggett for the layup to bring the deficit within three points (46-43) with 14:09 remaining and getting the crowd on its feet.
- Despite seeing their lead dwindling, the Mountain Lions continued to hold onto the lead but never led by more than six points the next 10:29 of game time as the teams continued to trade baskets.
- The Yellow Jackets used a 17-4 scoring run in the final six minutes to take the lead for good in the game, and the spark once again began with a momentum play by Hackley. With 5:25 remaining in the game, Hackley converted an old-fashioned 3-point play as he backed down his defender for a layup and a foul, plus the free throw to spark the run. Then he also would be the one to give BHSU their first lead since it was 2-0, and a lead that they would not surrender, as he sank a right-wing 3-pointer off a kick-out pass from Lowe to make it a 65-63 ball game with just 2:01 to play. He then closed the scoring run and gave the Yellow Jackets their largest lead of the game at 72-65 with a pair of free throws with 21 seconds to play.
- UCCS continued to fight, as Martinez scored six consecutive points to bring the Mountain Lions back within a single point (72-71) with 12 seconds remaining, converting a 4-point play as he knocked down a right-corner 3-pointer while being fouled after teammate Tre Lucia collected a steal to get them the ball back.
- A pair of free throws by BJ Woodruff with ten seconds to play pushed the BHSU lead to 74-71, and the Green & Gold elected to foul up by three and Martinez would score the contests final points on a pair of free throws with seven seconds remaining to make it 74-73.
- A turnover by the Yellow Jackets with just four seconds to play gave the Mountain Lions one final opportunity, however, the defense held strong as it had the entire second half and Martinez missed a right-baseline jumper as the buzzer sounded.
BLACK HILLS STATE STATISTICAL LEADERS
Jaeton Hackley: 21 points, 8-of-16 field goals, 1-of-3 3-pointers, 4-of-4 free throws, 6 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals
Jack Haggett: 17 points, 8-of-10 field goals, 1-of-3 3-pointers, 5 rebounds, 2 assists, 3 blocks, 1 steal
UP NEXT
With the win No. 13 Black Hills State advances to their league-best sixth consecutive RMAC Men’s Basketball Tournament Semifinal, facing Fort Lewis in a rematch of a game also played in A2 Arena in January. The Yellow Jackets and Skyhawks are set to tip-off in the second game of the night on Friday, March 6, at 7 p.m. in A2 Arena in Spearfish, following the 5 p.m. semifinal match-up featuring Colorado Mesa and CSU Pueblo. The game will stream live on the RMAC Network and on KDSJ Radio.
