The No. 13 Black Hills State University men’s basketball team found the quick start they needed on Friday night in a 77-75 victory over Fort Lewis in the semifinals of the 2026 RMAC Men’s Basketball Tournament in A2 Arena. In the win, the Yellow Jackets never trailed grabbing the momentum from the tip-off with a trio of 3-pointers in the first three minutes of play and then pushing their lead to as many as 18 points in the second half. Fort Lewis, however, would once again turn the game into a thriller, going on a 35-18 scoring run down the stretch to claw back within a single point in the closing seconds. In the victory, the Yellow Jackets hit nine first half triples and finished the game with 14 made shots from deep and 20 assists.
QUICK DETAILS
Score: No. 13 Black Hills State 77, Fort Lewis 75
Team Records: No. 13 Black Hills State 26-4 (17-3 RMAC), Fort Lewis 18-11 (14-5 RMAC)
Attendance: 2,936
HOW IT HAPPENED
- BJ Woodruff scored the first points of the game for either team, knocking down a left-corner 3-pointer off a drive and kick by Jaeton Hackley, sparking a 9-0 start in the first three minutes of play in favor of Black Hills State as Jackson Seale added a pair of treys of his own from the right-wing off assists from Jack Haggett and Hackley respectively.
- Fort Lewis eventually scored their first points of the match-up as Kiether Florence made a tough right-handed layup, and the Skyhawks fought back to within two points as Stewart Erhart scored on a quick spin move into a right-handed layup to cap a 10-3 scoring run and trim BHSU’s lead to 12-10 with 12:28 to play in the first half.
- The Yellow Jackets continued to find the bottom of the net from beyond the arc in the early stages as they made five of their first eight attempts as Cam Lowe’s step back left-wing 3-pointer ended the Skyhawk scoring run and made it a 15-10 ball game with 11:51 on the clock, and all 15 points for the Green & Gold coming from distance. Lowe’s bucket sparked a 20-8 scoring run for BHSU in nearly the next nine minutes of action as their advantage grew to 14 points with yet another triple, this time a transition left-wing 3-pointer from Hackley off an assist from Woodruff to make it 32-18 and force an FLC timeout with 3:26 to play till the break.
- Following the timeout, the Skyhawks would close the first half by outscoring the Yellow Jackets 10-5, trimming the deficit to single digits entering the halftime break as Erhart made a driving right-handed layup with just 34 seconds to play and make it a 37-28 game at the break.
- Out of the halftime break, Black Hills State scored the first seven points to push the lead back to double digits and a 16 point advantage (44-28) as Haggett hit a floater in the paint with 17:48 remaining in the game for his fifth points of the second half in the stretch. The momentum continued as it was again Haggett with the bucket off a Myles Johnson assist, making a right-handed layup off a lob pass to make it 50-32 with 15:46 to play. The basket gave BHSU their largest lead of the contest and extended the scoring run out of the break to 13-4.
- The lead hit the largest of the game on several occasions for the Green & Gold, including a pair of 3-pointers by Tristan Hurdle, as he hit a right-wing jumper off an assist by Lowe with 14:06 to play and a top of the key jumper of an assist from Johnson with 12:36 remaining on the clock to make it 58-40.
- Over the next 12:01 of game time, Fort Lewis methodically chipped away and brought back memories of their comeback in January on the very same court in A2 Arena, outscoring the Yellow Jackets 35-18 down the stretch. The rally saw the Skyhawks hold BHSU without a made field goal the final 3:28 of game time, as Johnson’s driving right-handed layup was the final basket of the game for Black Hills State to make it 71-64. FLC would ultimately claw to within a single point as Donald Bangham Jr. buried a right-wing 3-pointer to make it a 76-75 game with 34.5 seconds to play. The 3-pointer would be the last points of the game for Fort Lewis, as they were unable to capture the steal and basket they needed to pull head, and Seale went 1-of-2 from the charity stipe to end the game with BHSU taking a 77-75 victory.
BLACK HILLS STATE STATISTICAL LEADERS
Cam Lowe: 15 points, 5-of-10 field goals, 3-of-7 3-pointers, 2-of-2 free throws, 6 rebounds, 2 assists
Tristan Hurdle: 14 points, 4-of-6 field goals, 4-of-6 3-pointers, 2-of-2 free throws, 4 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 block, 1 steal
Jackson Seale: 11 points, 4-of-6 field goals, 2-of-4 3-pointers, 1-of-3 free throws, 5 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 block
BJ Woodruff: 10 points, 3-of-10 field goals, 3-of-9 3-pointers, 1-of-2 free throws, 5 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal
UP NEXT
No. 13 Black Hills State advanced to the championship of the RMAC Men’s Basketball Tournament for the first time since 2022, setting up the 14th No. 1 vs. No. 2 match-up in conference tournament history as they are set to face Colorado Mea on Saturday, March 7, at 7 p.m. in A2 Arena. The game will stream live on the RMAC Network and on KDSJ Radio.
