Yellow Jackets get first NCAA win

.Richard Anderson photo

Black Hills State University junior guard Tommy Donovan, 21, shown last week against New Mexico Highlands, came off the bench for 15 points in the Jackets 76-68 win over Dallas Baptist in the South Central Regional Tournament Saturday in Lubbock, Texas.

The Black Hills State University men’s basketball team qualified for the NCAA Division II Tournament for the first time in the program’s history and now has its first NCAA tourney win, rallying past No. 6 seed Dallas Baptist University 76-68 Saturday afternoon at the South Central Regional in Lubbock, Texas

The third-seeded Yellow Jackets, 23-7, rallied from a 13-point first-half deficit and built a late 10-point lead before holding on for the win. When the going got tough, Black Hills State got going. The Jackets shot 27 percent from the field in the first half, but 68 percent in the final 20 minutes.

"Credit to our guys for a tougher second half, they kind of found some open areas and our transitions looked better," BHSU head coach Ryan Thompson said. "Defensively I thought our effort was pretty consistent, allowing us to stay in the game offensively."

With the win, BHSU, ranked 22nd in the country, advances to the round of 32, and plays No. 2 West Texas A&M, which held on to stop No. 7 Angelo State 84-76. Sunday’s semifinal game tips off at 4 p.m. (Mountain) in the Rip Griffin Center.

“I thought that Dallas Baptist had a great game plan. They flustered us a little bit in the first half,” Thompson said. “Credit our guys for toughing up in the second half. They found some areas with their traps and switches. And Joel (Scott) kind of put us on his back late in the game and kind of had a will to win, to go get baskets and get stops”

Thompson thought it was a physical game, with Dallas Baptist was more physical early than his team. But he said in their comeback that they increased their physicality and got tougher with the basketball.

“They (Dallas Baptist) did some things differently than what we faced throughout the year and we just had to makes some tweaks with our spacing and our ball screens,” he said. “We made those adjustments and found some open areas. We got our shooters open shots and we got some cutters cutting to the basket, and we figured out to get Joel going as well.”

Scott, the 6-foot-8 forward and RMAC Player of the Year, agreed with his coach and said their comeback came from toughness, himself included. He led all scorers with 25 points, 18 in the second half.

“We kind of came out soft in the first half, so in the second half it was finishing through people, going after the ball, going up and getting what we needed to get,” said Scott, who was 7-of-12 shooting and 10-of-13 from the free-throw line. He also grabbed nine rebounds, had four assists and two steals. “My teammates started to find me. It wasn’t just me, it was them looking to pass, looking when I had openings. That opened everything else for the team as well.”

Despite an early 6-3 lead on 3-pointers from junior guard Sava Dukic and Scott to open the game, Dallas Baptist would answer, leading 22-9 midway through the first half. The Yellow Jacket offense began to get things going as junior guard Tommy Donovan hit a 3-pointer to start the rally. Layups from Scott and sophomore forward PJ Hayes would bring BHSU to within six, 27-21, with less than three minutes remaining in the half. The Jackets closed the first half on 12-2 run capped by a pair of junior Adam Moussa 3-pointers in the final minute of the half to head into the locker room trailing by only two, 29-27. Both teams started slow out of the break, trading possessions before a Donovan layup and Hayes 3 tied the game up at 36-36. A few minutes later, a Donovan layup and junior guard Sindou Cisse’s dunk gave the Yellow Jackets their first lead of the game, 44-40 with 11:13 remaining.

The Yellow Jackets moved ahead 49-42 on a Scott dunk before taking their first double-digit lead on a 3 from Hayes to make it 52-42 with 9:14 to play. The Patriots cut the lead to five on several occasions late in the contest, but the Yellow Jackets held off the charge. A Scott layup at 7:03 made it 55-47 before a Hayes 3 moved the score to 60-52 with 5:27 to go. Threes from Moussa and Donovan put BHSU up 69-61 as the game entered its final two minutes of play, and the Patriots began fouling. BH would go on to sink 7-of-8 free throws between Cisse, Donovan and Scott down the stretch to seal the victory.

Donovan finished with 15 points, going 4-of-6 from the field and 5-of-6 from the free-throw line and Cisse scored 12 points while grabbing four rebounds and dishing out four assists. Hayes went 3-of-5 from deep and finished with 11 points and four rebounds. Moussa added nine points and six assists. As a team, the Jackets shot 44 percent from the field (23-of-52, 17 assists) and hit 10-of-26 3-pointers. BH was also 20-of-32 from the line and out-rebounded Dallas Baptist 37-32.

Ricky Lujan led Dallas Baptist, 17-12, with 18 points and Cameron Kahn added 14 points. The Patriots were 25-of-58 from the field (4-of-18 3s) and 14-of-17 from the charity stripe.

“I’m truly happy for our guys, they put in a ton of work,” Thompson said. “I’m happy for our supporters. They are a great group of people behind us. It’s an exciting time for Black Hills State and for our program.”

Scott said to come right back Sunday, it’s all about getting as much rest as possible.

“We’ve been here before; we know what it is like playing back-to-back games or three games in four days, so I feel like we’re doing pretty good. Just rest up and get ready to go,” he said.