The No. 10 Black Hills State University men’s basketball team continued their postseason run with a commanding 78-60 victory over St. Mary’s in the second round of the NCAA Division II Men’s Basketball Tournament in the Burg Center on Sunday evening. The Yellow Jackets took control of the game in the first ten minutes of the contest as Joel Speckman helped fuel a 15-4 scoring run with six early points to help the Green & Gold take the lead for good. Then out of the locker room the Yellow Jackets landed an early punch by sinking three consecutive 3-pointers in the first minute and a half to extend their advantage to 20 points, where it would stay a majority of the second half. BHSU was led by Jaeton Hackley who scored a game-high 16 points, all while dishing out eight assists to help five players score in double figures.
QUICK DETAILS
Score: No. 10 Black Hills State 78, St. Mary’s 60
Team Records: No. 10 Black Hills State 29-4 (17-3 RMAC), St. Mary’s 22-10 (13-7 LSC)
Attendance: 567
HOW IT HAPPENED
- St. Mary’s scored the first five points of the contest and jumped out to an 8-3 advantage following a right-wing 3-pointer by Damani Claxton with 17:57 to play in the opening half. Following the 8-3 deficit and more than two minutes of scoreless action, Black Hills State took control with a 15-4 scoring run that was sparked by a tip-in layup by Myles Johnson off a missed 3-pointer with 15:14 on the clock. The Yellow Jackets took their first lead (12-10) of the match-up with a pair of free throws by Joel Speckman with 10:58 remaining, and then they took the lead for good as Speckman secured an offensive board and put in a tough layup from the right block to make it 14-12 with 9:29 to play till the break. Speckman started the game with six of the first 18 points for the Yellow Jackets, while also securing four rebounds as he capped the scoring run with 8:19 on the clock and an 18-12 advantage.
- The Green & Gold pushed the lead to double digits shortly after, as Jaeton Hackley backed his defender down into the post and hit a turnaround jumper off the left-block to make it 27-16. A 9-0 scoring run was then capped a couple of minutes later as Hackley found Jack Haggett cutting to the hoop for a 2-handed dunk with 1:37 to play in the first half, bringing the lead up to 13 points (29-16).
- St. Mary’s outscored Black Hills State 4-2 in the final 1:06 to bring the halftime score to 31-20 in favor of the Yellow Jackets.
- The Green & Gold came out of the locker room red-hot from beyond the arc, sinking three straight 3-pointers assisted by Hackley with the first from Jackson Seale from the left-corner on the opening possession and then Cam Lowe hit back-to-back from the top of the key to force a Rattler timeout as the quick 9-0 scoring run pushed the lead to 20 points (40-20) just a minute and a half into the second half.
- St. Mary’s briefly cut the Yellow Jacket lead down to 14 points twice, first with 13:08 to play in the game as Sebastian Mendoza split a pair of free throws to make it 48-34. The Yellow Jackets, however, responded with another 9-0 scoring run as Johnson sparked it with another second chance basket on a tip-in with 12;07 on the clock and Haggett ended it by finishing a fastbreak alley-oop dunk off an assist from Johnson to make it a 57-34 advantage, building their largest lead of the game and forcing another Rattler timeout.
- The Rattlers’ final comeback attempt came as Wayne Wiggins capped a 12-3 scoring run with a fastbreak right-handed layup off a steal to make it 60-46 with 7:56 remaining. BHSU again would have an answer as Hackley scored five unanswered with a left-wing 3-pointer and a fastbreak right-handed layup. Johnson capped a 7-0 scoring run with a fastbreak right-handed layup off a steal from Hackley to push the lead back to 21 points (67-46) with 6:35 to play in the contest.
- The teams would go back-and-forth the remainder of the game as Haggett capitalized on Hackley’s eighth assist of the game and capped the scoring for the Green & Gold with a layup off the pick & roll from the right-wing to make it 78-56 with 2:38 to play. The Rattlers would score the final four points of the match-up, first with a driving right-handed layup by Mendoza with 2:13 on the clock and then with a fastbreak right-handed layup by Freddie Cooper off a steal to bring the final score to 78-60 in favor of BHSU.
BLACK HILLS STATE STATISTICAL LEADERS
Jaeton Hackley: 16 points, 6-of-8 field goals, 2-of-2 3-pointers, 2-of-2 free throws, 5 rebounds, 8 assists, 4 steals
Cam Lowe: 14 points, 5-of-12 field goals, 4-of-10 3-pointers, 4 rebounds, 4 assists, 1 steal
Myles Johnson: 13 points, 6-of-9 field goals, 1-of-1 free throws, 4 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 blocks
Jack Haggett: 11 points, 5-of-8 field goals, 1-of-2 free throws, 5 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal
Joel Speckman: 10 points, 4-of-5 field goals, 2-of-3 free throws, 5 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal
UP NEXT
No. 10 Black Hills State advances to the Sweet 16 where they will face the winner of No. 15 Dallas Baptist and (RV) St. Edwards for the South Central Regional title at 6 p.m. MT/7 p.m. CT at the Burg Center in Dallas, Texas, on Tuesday, March 17.
