Black Hills St. BHSU 2-5,0-1 RMAC

Regis (CO) Regis 4-2,1-0 RMAC

Black Hills St. BHSU

2-5,0-1 RMAC

Final

Dec. 01, 2023

Regis (CO) Regis

4-2,1-0 RMAC

Score By Periods
Team	1	2	F
Black Hills St. BHSU	29	25	54
Regis (CO) Regis	32	34	66

Summary
Box Score

Billy Saunders, Regis Athletics

Regis graduate student forward Tarig Eisa (#30).

Game Recap: Men's Basketball | Dec 01 | David Wilson, Assistant AD-Communications

Rangers open RMAC action with 66-54 victory over Black Hills, extend win streak to four straight

DENVER, Colo. — The Regis University men's basketball team opened RMAC play on Friday with a statement, methodically dispatching of Black Hills State University, 66-54, en route to the team's fourth straight win on its current five-game home stand.

For the Rangers (4-2 overall, 1-0 RMAC), Friday's win over the Yellow Jackets (2-5 overall, 0-1 RMAC) snapped a six-game skid to the perennial RMAC powers dating back to the 2018-19 season. And it marked the third straight game the Regis defense, which ranks second in the RMAC in fewest points allowed (66.2), has held an opponent under 60 points.

"This was another energy win. Our guys played with great spirit and really stuck to the course and our game plan," said Regis head men's basketball coach, Brady Bergeson. "We were able to stay really aggressive against (Black Hills) without ever getting undisciplined with fouls or coverages. We were unable to sustain efforts and our guys played incredibly hard, which is what I think this game came down to."

HOW IT HAPPENED
Trailing by four at 22-18 nearing the eight-minute media timeout of the first half, the Rangers put together their first of those sustained runs, going on a 10-0 burst to take a six-point lead of their own at 30-24 with 4:07 remaining, following back-to-back baskets courtesy of junior guard Trey Bryant.

Regis would take a 32-29 lead into the break, surviving an opening 20 minutes that saw the Yellow Jackets shoot 50 percent (5-for-10) from 3-point range.

The Rangers would respond in the second half, though, opening the final from on a massive 18-5 run to take their largest lead of the game (16 points) at 50-34 just five minutes into the half, capped by a three-pointer from graduate student forward Tarig Eisa for three of his nine points.

Defensively, Regis was able to neutralize the three-point line as Black Hills State shot 0-for-7 from deep over the final 20 minutes. Additionally, the Rangers were able to put the clamps on BHSU graduate student guard Matthew Ragsdale, who entered the evening second in the RMAC in scoring at 20.7 points per game.

Ragsdale would finish Friday evening with just eight points on 3-for-8 shooting in his game-high 35 minutes as the Rangers sent a wave of fresh legs his direction throughout the ballgame.

"We couldn't have asked for much more in terms of the effort defending Ragsdale. He's one of the best scorers in the control, much less the conference, and he can hurt you in so many ways because he is a multi-level scorer," Bergeson said. "It was a team effort. We had different players guarding him in shifts over the course of the night and the goal was to take away anything easy. If he hit a touch shot, which he made a couple of them, we were going to live with that. But we wanted to eliminate the easy looks."

While the Rangers' defense continued to be suffocating on opponents, the team was able to put together one of its offensive performances of the young 2023 season as Regis shot 40.4 percent (23-for-57) from the field and 41. 7 percent (10-for-24) from the 3-point line; the second-best single game marks of the season behind the team's 109-point effort against Barclay College.

Sophomore guard Chase Mayo Harmon continued his breakout fall semester with 18 points and five rebounds on an economic 6-for-11 shooting, including a crucial 3-pointer with 5:42 remaining that pushed the Rangers' lead back to eight at 68-60 after BHSU had crawled back within five.

Mayo Harmon was the only Ranger in double-figures, while Eisa and freshman Ty Cox each added nine points and freshman forward Olafur Styrmisson chipped in eight points.
Cox flirted with his first double-double of his career, grabbing a team-high nine rebounds. The 6-5, 205-pound combo guard currently leads Regis at 5.0 rebounds per game through the team's first six contests.

"Ty is very smart and has a good feel of where to go, where the ball is going, and how he can gain advantages on guys when it comes to rebounding. He's very aware of himself and his surroundings, which is not a quality to see often in players, especially freshmen," Bergeson said of Cox. "He has a great feel for the game and that's why he comes up with so many loose balls and rebounds. He has a knack for that."

UP NEXT
The Rangers will look to add to their winning streak, and close out the home portion of the fall semester schedule, with a victory on Saturday when they host South Dakota Mines. Tip-off is scheduled for 5 p.m. inside the Regis Field House.

"They have an outstanding starting lineup that has about as much playing experience together as any team in the RMAC. And they have a talented bench with some young guys so they're going to present a lot of challenges for us," Bergeson said. "We're going to be who we are and I think we can give them some problems too, especially if our energy level is good again like it was tonight. We're looking forward to the challenge."

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