The No. 13 Black Hills State University men’s basketball team punched their ticket to their third NCAA Division II Men’s Basketball Tournament on Saturday, March 7, defeating Colorado Mesa 89-77 in the championship of the RMAC Men’s Basketball Tournament in A2 Arena and secured the league’s automatic bid. On Sunday, March 8, the NCAA announced the official bracket, which saw the Yellow Jackets as the No. 6 seed in the South Central Region, facing the No. 3 seed Lubbock Christian. First round games will be played on Saturday, March 14, in the Burg Center in Dallas, Texas, on the campus of Dallas Baptist University, who earned the No. 1 seed and host bid in the region. Second round games will be played Sunday, March 15, and the regional championship will be played on Tuesday, March 17, with all games continuing to be played in the Burg Center.
In each of the previous two NCAA Tournament appearances for the Yellow Jackets, the team advanced to the Final Four in Evansville, Indiana, winning the South Central Regional in both 2022 and 2023. They boast a record of 8-2 overall in the tournament.
The Green & Gold enter the big dance with a record of 27-4 (17-3 RMAC), winners of the conference regular season and tournament titles. They ended the year on a 10-game win streak, boasting a record of 13-1 in their home arena which included three RMAC Tournament victories.
The South Central Regional consists of teams from the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference (RMAC) and the Lone Star Conference, as BHSU is one of two teams from the RMAC, joined by Colorado Mesa who earned the No. 8 seed. The LSC punched six tickets to the tournament, including the No. 1 seed Dallas Baptist, the No. 2 seed Eastern New Mexico, the No. 3 seed Lubbock Christian, the No. 4 seed Western New Mexico, the No. 5 seed St. Edward’s, and the No. 7 seed St. Mary’s.
In their last 14 games against the LSC, Black Hills State holds a 13-1 record against the league, which included a pair of victories earlier this year over Sul Ross State and Texas A&M International by 32 points apiece. Saturday’s match-up with Lubbock Christian will be the first meeting between the two teams in men’s basketball. The Chaparrals own a record of 27-5 (17-3 LSC) this season, falling in the semifinals of the conference tournament to Eastern New Mexico (101-85) and finishing in a tie for second place in the league’s standings during the regular season. LCU has won seven of their last eight games to enter the tournament as they make their sixth consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance, however, they have not advanced out of the first round since 2022.
