Ryan Bruns (Courtesy Photo)

No. 6 seed Rangers fall just shy of RMAC Tournament title, fall by 69-66 to No. 1 seed Black Hills State

Mar 05 | By: David Wilson, Assistant AD-Communications

Regis graduate student Brian Dawson (No. 0) scored a game-high 32 points in the Rangers' 69-66 loss to BHSU in the RMAC Tournament Championship.

Box Score SPEARFISH, S.D. – A magical March run for the Regis University men's basketball unfortunately came to an end on Saturday in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference (RMAC) Tournament Championship as the Rangers fell just shy of dethroning top-seed Black Hills State University, 69-66, inside the Donald E. Young Center.

The No. 6 seeded Rangers (20-10 overall), who were making their first return to the RMAC Tournament Championship game since winning it in 2017-18, eliminated No. 3 seed Fort Lewis and No. 2 seed Colorado Mesa on their Cinderella run to Saturday night's final against the No. 1 Yellow Jackets (22-7 overall).

HOW IT HAPPENED: Playing calm and controlled from the opening tip, the Rangers bull rushed the Yellow Jackets (22-7 overall) early on as they held a 12-3 lead with 16:45 remaining in the first half on a 3-pointer from graduate student Brian Dawson.

The two-time First Team All-RMAC selection was sensational for the Rangers as he poured in a game-high 32 points on 11-of-18 shooting; including eight of the team's first 18 points to quiet the capacity crowd early on.

After heading into the break trailing 36-35, the Rangers were again the aggressors to begin the second half as they led by as many as seven on two occasions, the latest coming on a tip-in layoff from junior stretch forward Aaron Bokol.

Regis would hold a four-point lead at 64-60 with 4:22 left following a mid-range jumper by Dawson. The momentum quickly flipped, though, as the Yellow Jackets put together a 7-0 burst between the 3:48 and 1:56 marks of the second half to retake the lead, 67-64.

Black Hills was led by its own First Team All-RMAC Player, and RMAC Player of the Year, junior forward Joel Scott as he poured in 17 of his team-high 29 points in the second half, including the final seven points for BHSU over the final 2:56.

Despite the second-half surge from Scott, the Rangers had a chance in the final seconds for a potential game-winner after a Dawson jumper with 50 seconds remaining brought Regis back within one at 67-66.

The Rangers' defense forced a stopped with 0:22 on clock via a steal from junior forward Kevin Ebiriekwe, but were unable to get off a shot attempt as RU turned the ball back over to BHSU with 2.1 seconds remaining.

Scott would add two insurance free throws to bump the lead to 69-66, effectively ending the Rangers' title hopes.

GAME NOTES: Regis finished at an even 40% from the field (24-of-60) and were 7-of-20 (35%) from 3-point range.

Black Hills State shot 46% (22-for-48) from the field and were limited to just 7-of-25 (28%) from deep, well below the team's season average of 37.1%.

The Rangers held a lead for 20:19 of game action (50.8%) versus the 15:49 (39.5%) for Black Hills State.

Regis won the turnover battle, 16-12, as well as points off turnovers (24-15).

Redshirt junior guard Will Cranston-Lown was the second Ranger in double-figures with 10 points, while adding five rebounds and two steals.

Junior forward Aaron Bokol backed up his 12-point effort in Friday's semi-final game with eight points, five rebounds and two steals on Saturday in 21 minutes off the bench.

The Yellow Jackets made up for their cold shooting from outside with an advantage at the free-throw line, finishing the evening 18-for-22 (82%) to the Rangers' mark of 11-for-15 (73%).

Following his 32-point effort on Saturday, graduate student Brian Dawson sits at 1,644 career points; the fifth most in program history and just six points shy of Dawson's former teammate, Christian Little (2016-2020). Dawson also ranks top-5 in program history in games played (1^st, 132), minutes played (2^nd, 3,433), made field goals (5^th, 591), and made 3-point attempts (5^th, 183).

Fellow graduate student Troy Brady finished with five points on Saturday. He Dawson and graduate student Ilisia Washington — the RMAC quarterfinal hero with 25 points against No. 3 seed Fort Lewis — will be the three student-athletes expect to graduate from Regis this spring.

UP NEXT: The Regis men's basketball program finish the 2021-22 campaign with a 20-10 overall record and proud owners of the program's longest win streak of 14 games (Nov. 13, 2021 through Jan. 21, 2022). The Rangers are currently expected to return 11 of its 14 players on the 2021-22 roster; seven of which are sophomores or freshmen.

RMAC ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM
Joel Scott (MVP) – BHSU
Sindou Cisse – BHSU
Adam Moussa – BHSU
Ryker Cisarik – BHSU
Brian Dawson – RU (24.7 PPG, 2.0 APG, 55.3% FGs)
Will Cranston-Lown – RU (13.3 PPG, 5.0 RPG, 48.4% FGs)
Jon'il Fugett – UCCS
Blaise Threatt – CMU

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