Spearfish, South Dakota- Just before the mid-season break, Regis and Black Hills State had a classic back-and-forth battle in Denver, which resulted in a two-point double overtime victory for the Yellow Jackets. Tonight's game was much of the same and unfortunately for the Rangers the result once again did not go in their favor.

The Yellow Jackets captured a 61-60 victory after being down by three with only fifty seconds remaining in the game. After Regis could not hit their late game free throws, Brody Brisk's hit a jumper to cut the Rangers' lead to one. Then Nick Ongarto knocked down two from the line to give his team the one point lead with just one tick left on the clock. 

In the first half the Yellow Jackets took advantage of Regis' early shooting woes to lead most of the half. Ryan Riley lead his team going 4-8 from the field amounting to ten first half points. Brady Bisgaard's made jumper at 11:04 left in the first pushed the Yellow Jackets lead to 5, their biggest lead during of half. 

From there, the two teams kept trading baskets until the Rangers finally climbed their way back to tie up the game at 23 with 6:17 to go. Freshman forward Dexter Sienko dropped in four baskets from the field and added three from the charity stripe to lead the team with 11 points in the first. Regis shot a perfect 7-7 at the free throw and kept their turnover numbers low, but Black Hills State still stuck right with them. Riley's last second jump shot to close the half evened up the scoreboard at 31.

In the second half, the Rangers jumped out to a three-point lead before the two teams began to swap control of the game. Sienko continued to be a force for the Rangers in the post contributing another eight points in the second. Riley's shooting cooled off only producing three points in the half, but the Yellow Jackets got help from the rest of their bench with nine points.

Sienko finished the game with a 19 point, 13 rebound double-double. Senior forward Brett Hartshorne contributed 10 points; sophomore guards Spenser Reeb and Bryan Siefker each put up nine. The Rangers dominated on the boards holding the 35-25 advantage. On the other hand, Regis also gave up 13 turnovers that resulted in 13 points for Black Hills State.

Regis had their opportunity to close out the game and earn their fourth conference win, but the struggles from the free throw line late in the game turned that opportunity over to Black Hills State. Free throws were a huge element in both matchups between the two teams considering both losses for the Rangers have come by a combined three points.

Regis will attempt to bounce back and grab a win away from Chadron St. tomorrow in Chadron, Neb. Tip-off is set for 7:30 pm.