KEARNEY, Neb. – Nebraska-Kearney held the No. 6 Colorado Mines men's basketball squad to a season-low in points and shooting percentage in upsetting the Orediggers 66-57 on Saturday afternoon at the Health and Sports Center in Kearney, Neb.
Colorado Mines (7-1, 3-1 RMAC) was held to 43.1 percent shooting in its first loss of the season – five percent lower than their previous season low for the category. UNK (5-3, 3-2 RMAC) shot worse from the floor in the matchup (42.0 percent), but a 6-for-14 effort from long range and a 18-to-10 advantage on made free throws was enough to capture the nine point home victory.
The Lopers came out firing early and amassed a 13-2 lead through the first 5:17 of the ballgame. Mines continued to battle back and trimmed UNK's lead to two points, 26-24, on a 3-pointer by junior Brett Green with 3:55 to go in the first half. A couple jumpers by UNK's Quenston Reggins and a layup by CSM sophomore Trevor Wages took the two teams into the break with the Lopers leading by a 30-26 margin.
CSM opened up the second half by matching the Lopers point-for-point and eventually took its first lead of the contest, 36-34, on a pair of free throws by Dale Minschwaner. After the two teams traded points over the next few possessions, UNK took a lead it would not relinquish on a 3-pointer by Reggins to go up 41-38 with 12:05 to play in the game.
UNK increased its lead to as much as 12 points during the second half but the Orediggers could not get closer than seven points down after that 12-point lead was established.
Wages led CSM in scoring and rebounding with 15 and eight, respectively. He finished his afternoon 7-of-11 from the field while adding one assist and a steal in 31 minutes of action.
Green added 14 points on 5-of-12 shooting from the floor, including 2-of-5 from downtown and 2-of-2 from the foul line. Minschwaner added nine points and six rebounds while Jacob Case collected seven points, five rebounds and two blocks.
Reggins led all scorers with 20 points on 5-of-10 shooting from the floor, including an 8-of-10 effort on free throws.
The Orediggers will try to get back in the win column on Sunday when they continue their road trip through Nebraska with a matchup against Chadron State at 3 p.m.
