FORT SMITH, Ark. – University of Arkansas – Fort Smith Men’s Basketball will open the Zane Gibson era in South Dakota this weekend as the Lions participate in the Conference Crossover event at Black Hills State.
The Lions will first face Metropolitan State University – Denver at 6 p.m. Friday before taking on the host Yellow Jackets at 7 p.m. Saturday. Live stats and streaming links for both games can be found at uafortsmithlions.com.
NOTES:
LAST SEASON: UAFS finished the 2022-23 season at 12-16, 8-14 LSC.
SEASON OPENER: The Lions are 8-6 in season openers in the NCAA II era.
KEY RETURNERS: UAFS returns just four players from a year ago, but two are All-LSC guards Cameron Bush and Payton Brown. Brown led the LSC in scoring last season with 19.7 points per game.
NEW FACES: The Lions brought in 12 new players this season, consisting of nine transfers and three freshmen. Two transfers come from LSC foes while three played at NCAA I institutions last season. Transfer guard Lian Ramiro was a 1,000-point scorer in three seasons at Colorado State – Pueblo.
RECORD WATCH: Brown ranks ninth with 843 career points and eighth with 109 made threes.
COACH GIBSON: Head Coach Zane Gibson enters his first season leading the Lions after three seasons at Western New Mexico, posting a 17-11 record in 2022-23.
SCOUTING MSU-D: The Roadrunners are coming off a 12-17 season in 2022-23 and return four of their top five scorers from last season. Forward Caleb McGill leads the group of returners after averaging 13.8 points and 4.9 rebounds a year ago.
SCOUTING BHSU: The Yellow Jackets are coming of back-to-back Final Four runs in which they went a combined 55-14 the last two seasons. However, BHSU lost All-American forward Joel Scott and returns just three of its top nine contributors from last season. Guard Matthew Ragsdale leads a nine-player recruiting class after averaging 13.5 points per game last season.
THE SERIES: UAFS is 3-3 all-time versus MSU-Denver and 1-2 against Black Hills State.
