RAPID CITY, S.D. --- Following the Thanksgiving holiday, the Hardrockers men's basketball team heads to the road for a pair of contests, first taking on MSU Billings on Saturday evening, before heading to Spearfish and taking on Black Hills State on Monday.
GAME INFORMATION
MSU Billings
Date/Time: Nov. 25 / 2:00 p.m. MT
Site: Billings, Mont.
Arena: Alterowitz Gymnasium
Series Overall: South Dakota Mines leads 3-1 (since 2012).
Streak: South Dakota Mines Won 3
Last Meeting: South Dakota Mines won in Rapid City, 76-71 (11/25/2022).
Watch Live: YouTube | MSU Billings YouTube
Black Hills State
Date/Time: Nov. 27 / 7:00 p.m. MT
Site: Spearfish, S.D.
Arena: Donald E. Young Center
Series Overall: Black Hills State leads 37-27 (since 1994).
Streak: Black Hills State Won 4
Last Meeting: Black Hills State won in Spearfish, 76-60 (1/24/2023).
Watch Live: RMAC Network | www.rmacnetwork.com/sdmines
RAMA STARS
Alejandro Rama picked up where he left off from last season and has been great, averaging 20.3 points per game, along with 5.8 rebounds per game, 2.3 steals per game, and 2.3 blocks per game. To begin the season, he is shooting 43.1% from the field and 40.5% from the three-point arc.
BALANCED ATTACK
Overall, in addition to Rama, the Hardrockers have four players also averaging double-digits. Kolton Frugoli averages 13.3 points per game, Cameron Cohn averages 13, Keagan Smith averages, 11.8, and Brannagh Walsh scored 11 in his lone contest thus far.
FEARSOME FRUGOLI
Kolton Frugoli has had a tremendous pair of weekends to start the season. In addition to the 13.3 points per game, he is shooting 48.8% from the field and 37.5% from three. Behind Rama, he is the second-leading rebounder, averaging 5.3 per game.
THREE-POINT THREATS
Four of the five aforementioned double-digit scorers are lighting it up from long distance. Rama, Smith, Cohn, and Frugoli are hitting 40.5, 40, 39.1, and 37.5 percent from distance.
RECENT RESULTS
After splitting the opening weekend against Texas A&M International and Texas A&M University – Kingsville, the Hardrockers were defeated in a pair of games this past weekend, falling in a tight contest against MSU Moorhead by two and falling to Augustana despite a late comeback.
Against MSU Moorhead, Cameron Cohn had his best game thus far, scoring 21 points on 7-11 shooting and he was joined by Kolton Frugoli with 17 and six boards, shooting 8-14. Rama had 18 but took 25 shots to do it. True freshman Ethan Bruns led the team with eight rebounds and played 28 minutes.
On Saturday against Augustana, Rama was back to his usual self, scoring 24 on 8-13 and 6-9 from three. Keagen Smith (18) and Frugoli (17) joined him in double figures.
SCOUTING MSU BILLINGS
Coming off a very successful 2022-23 season, the Yellowjackets from Billings look to repeat some of that in 23-24. They won 20 games and qualified for the NCAA Division II tournament this past season.
They had a large roster turnover from a veteran-laden team last season and will be relying on eight newcomers along with their five returners. Gone are their two leaders from last season in Carrington Wiggins and Bilal Shabazz to graduation, but returning is Zharon Richmond who was selected to the GNAC Preseason All-Conference team after missing the previous year due to injury. They brought in several transfers in Famous Lefthand, Daniel Moody, Beni Fungula, Bryce Whitaker, Hanniel Ouattara, Payton Sanders, and Ky Kouba.
Lefthand and Moody have become immediate difference makers, scoring 13.4 and 12.8 points per game. Richmond has picked up where he left off as well, averaging 13.8 points per game on 53.8% from three-point range. Moody led in rebounding with 7.4 per game.
In their most recent pair of contests, Lefthand has emerged as their leading scorer with 20 and 17 on high efficiency. Whitaker also seems to be coming into his own with a 13-point game in 25 minutes for the Division I transfer from the University of San Francisco.
Their early season results have been mixed with wins over Hawai'i at Hilo and Minot State while falling to Westmont, Rocky Mountain, and #17 Black Hills State. Despite the scoreline against Black Hills State, they gave the Yellow Jackets from South Dakota a run for their money, trailing by just one point with under five minutes to play and leading at one point in the second half.
SCOUTING BLACK HILLS STATE
Black Hills State, the other Yellow Jackets are in a similar situation in 2023-24 with the loss of some key players after a very successful season. Black Hills State was a final-four team for the second consecutive season in 2022-23 but is relying on 10 newcomers.
The biggest loss is, of course, Joel Scott, the RMAC Player of the Year. He transferred to Division I, Colorado State University, and is having success there, starting in each game and averaging nearly 15 points per game.
Returning, however, is another big piece from last season in Matthew Ragsdale. The Second Team All-Conference honoree from 2022-23 is off to a great start to the season as the new top dog for BHSU. Outside of a tough season opener against Oklahoma Christian, he has scored 21+ in each of their other four contests, averaging 20.2 for the season on 51.4% shooting and 38.2% from three-point range.
Hoku Fisher has taken a big step up as a sophomore, and is currently their only other double-digit scorer, averaging 10.6 per game on 50% shooting and 38.9% from three-point range.
Joel Speckman and John Shanklin are each averaging over five rebounds per game while Shanklin averaging 1.7 blocks per game.
In their first five games, they struggled against Oklahoma Christian, defeated Arkansas Fort Smith, and fell in both games of the East/West Challenge hosted by the Hardrockers.
LOOKING AHEAD
After the pair of games, South Dakota Mines heads to Colorado for the beginning of RMAC play as they head to Colorado Springs for a matchup with the UCCS Mountain Lions on Friday and the Regis Rangers in Denver on Saturday evening.
About South Dakota Mines
The South Dakota School of Mines & Technology is a member of the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference (RMAC) and NCAA Division II offering 13 men's and women's varsity intercollegiate athletic programs. The Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference is a premier NCAA Division II conference with 15 members, as well as four associate members, located in the states of California, Colorado, Nebraska, New Mexico, Oklahoma, South Dakota, and Utah.
