Regis (CO) Regis 3-4,0-1 RMAC

Black Hills St. BHSU 7-0,1-0 RMAC

Regis (CO) Regis

3-4,0-1 RMAC

Final

Dec. 02, 2022

Black Hills St. BHSU

7-0,1-0 RMAC

Score By Periods
Team	1	2	F
Regis (CO) Regis	33	32	65
Black Hills St. BHSU	23	52	75

Summary
Box Score

Billy Saunders, Regis Athletics

Redshirt junior Eddy Egun scored a career-high 17 points in Friday's loss to BHSU (File Photo).

Game Recap: Men's Basketball | Dec 02 | David Wilson, Assistant AD-Communications

Rangers take positive step, challenge defending champs Black Hills State in RMAC opener

SPEARFISH, S.D. — The Regis University men's basketball team opened RMAC conference play Friday with a tall task, falling by a 75-65 final against No. 5/6 ranked Black Hills State University in front of a packed house at the Donald E. Young Center.

Regis put together a strong performance as it led by as many as 10 points in the first half, and were tied with the powerful Yellow Jackets at the last media timeout of the second, in what was a rematch of last year's RMAC Tournament championship game.

Friday's effort, despite the defeat, was a substantial step forward for the 2022-23 Rangers (3-4 overall, 0-1 RMAC), who rolled out a different starting five and eight new faces from the 2021-22 squad that faced the Yellow Jackets last March. BHSU, the preseason favorites to repeat as RMAC Champions, returned all five starters and nine players from their NCAA Division II Final Four team a season ago.

"I'm really pleased with the level of competitive spirit that came out within our group. This is what we have been calling ourselves out on for three weeks since the season started, in terms of sustained efforts. I thought our guys took a meaningful step forward tonight," said Regis head men's basketball coach, Brady Bergeson. "That gave us a chance to beat a very good, veteran team on the road. Without that sustained effort and urgency, we don't have a shot. But we had our chances tonight."

HOW IT HAPPENED: Regis threw the first punch Friday as it opened the game on a 13-4 blitz, capped off by a pair of free throws from sophomore forward Brayden Carter for two of his nine first-half points.

The Rangers would keep the Yellow Jackets at a jabbers' distance the remainder of the opening 20 minutes, limiting BHSU to a dismal 26 percent shooting (6-for-23) in the first half en route to enjoying a 33-23 lead at the break.

"We played with extreme intensity and we didn't give them (BHSU) anything easy. Holding them to 23 first-half points was just a byproduct of them not getting a lot of good looks," Bergeson said.

Black Hills State would counter in the second half, though, as it opened on a 10-2 scoring run, and cut the deficit to 35-33 by the 16-minute media timeout. The Yellow Jackets took their first lead since 2-0 with 12:31 remaining, going up 45-42 following a 3-pointer from Adam Moussa.

The Rangers continued to hang tough as they tied the score again as late as 61-61 on a corner trey by senior Aaron Bokol, but fell just shy of completing the road upset as BHSU closed the final 3:12 on a 14-4 scoring run.

"I think we forced a couple things, offensively, that led to a few turnovers and missed shots. And Black Hills capitalized on those mistakes," Bergeson said of the difference down the stretch. "Had we not turned the ball over, executed a little better those last couple of minutes, I think we'd have been right down to the wire in a single possession game."

Leading the way for the Rangers on Friday was redshirt junior guard Eddy Egun as he poured in a career-high 17 points on 8-of-13 shooting, 11 of which came in the first half, to go with a career-high eight rebounds.

Joining Egun in double-figures was Bokol with 14 points and seven rebounds, and Carter with 13 points and seven rebounds of his own in 24 minutes.

GAME NOTES:

BHSU got to the free-throw line 13 more times than the Rangers on Friday, finishing 16-for-20 while Regis was 5-of-7 from the stripe
Regis owned a 9-1 advantage in offensive rebounds, cashing those in for 13 second-chance points
The Rangers dominated down low with a 38-20 edge in points in the paint
Regis limited the reigning RMAC Player of the Year, Joel Scott, to 13 points on 3-of-6 shooting

UP NEXT: The Rangers continue their South Dakota road trip with a Saturday matchup against South Dakota School of Mines out in Rapid City, S.D. Tip-off is scheduled for 6 p.m. inside the King Center.

"The sustained efforts, the intensity and competitive drive for sustained periods of time is where we're growing right now. If we can make that a habit then we can become a really good team and that's where we're heading," Bergeson said. "We need to make sure we have a similar effort (Saturday) night against South Dakota Mines to make it worth something. But we're on the right track."

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