Head men’s basketball coach Ryan Thompson has released the 2024-25 Black Hills State University men’s basketball schedule. The Yellow Jackets will open the season with a trip to the state of Texas in the first full weekend of November on November 9-10.
Black Hills State will open the campaign with a trip to the state of Texas for a pair of games hosted by Sul Ross State University. The Yellow Jackets will open the year on Saturday, November 9 against South Central region opponent the Patriots of the University of Texas at Tyler.
The trip to Alpine, Texas will conclude against the hosts of Sul Ross State Lobos. The Lobos concluded the 2023-24 season with a 12-13 overall record in their transition year from NCAA Division III to Division II, transitioning to be members of the Lonestar Conference this season.
The first home games of the season will be in the East-West Challenge on November 15-16 inside A2 Arena. Meeting for the third-straight season, the Yellow Jackets and Minnesota State Moorhead will clash to open the challenge on November 15 at 7:30 p.m. with the first-ever meeting being held in Spearfish. The two teams have split the last two meetings, with the Dragons prevailing last season 86-72 in Rapid City.
Augustana and BHSU will meet for the fourth-straight season and five of the last six seasons to conclude the Challenge on Saturday, November 16. In those last six meetings, the Vikings hold a 3-2 series lead with Augie taking the 76-70 victory last season in the Challenge.
Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference (RMAC) adjusts their schedule to a new format this season, leaving the Friday-Saturday format in favor of a new Thursday-Saturday format.
RMAC play will begin with a midweek clash down I-90 to battle the Hardrockers of South Dakota Mines to open the month of December on December 3. The first week of RMAC play will conclude with the Eagles of Chadron State College coming to town for the RMAC home opener on December 7.
The first league road trip will see the Yellow Jackets visit UCCS on December 12 and Colorado Christian on December 14 prior to the winter break.
Black Hills State will return to A2 Arena out of the break, set to host Regis and MSU Denver on January 9 and 11. BH will hit the road on January 16 and 18 for a trip to New Mexico against New Mexico Highlands, before making a stop in Durango, Colorado to clash with reigning RMAC regular season champions the Skyhawks of Fort Lewis College.
A pair of western Colorado schools will make the trip to western South Dakota for games against January 23 and 25. The Yellow Jackets will host Colorado Mesa on January 23 and reigning RMAC tournament champions the Mavericks of Colorado Mesa on January 25.
On Thursday, January 30 BH will head to Chadron, Nebraska to battle the Eagles of Chadron State for the second time for the lone game of the final week of January.
South Dakota Mines will make the return trip to Spearfish for a conference game—the first time the two rivals will meet twice in league play in the same season since the 2021-22 season—to open the month of February on February 1. That weekend (Feb. 6 and 8), BH will complete their longest homestand since the four-game stretch back in non-conference play when they host CSU Pueblo and UCCS. The contest with the Mountain Lions will be the second of the season and the lone clash with the Thunderwolves.
