GOLDEN – Led by four players in double figures, the No. 13 Colorado School of Mines men's basketball team opened its final home weekend of the regular season with a 73-52 victory over Black Hills State on Friday evening at Lockridge Arena.
Mines (19-3, 15-3 RMAC) forced 19 turnovers for a 21-to-6 advantage in points off miscues, and got a 29-to-18 advantage from its bench in leading from start to finish.
After heading into halftime up 11 points at 40-29, the Orediggers saw their lead diminish through the early part of the second half before BHSU (9-13, 7-11 RMAC) used a 3-pointer by Tommy Earl to cut the lead to 48-42 with 11:16 to play.
After a fired-up Pryor Orser timeout, Mines rallied and continued to push its lead throughout the remainder of the game on the way to the win. The squad closed the final 11:16 of the contest on a 25-to-10 run.
Senior Brett Green and freshman Caleb Waitsman tied for the team lead with 11 points. Green finished 4-of-8 from the floor, 3-of-3 from the fould line and added two assists and three steals in a team-high 31 minutes.
Waitsman was 5-of-6 from the floor and added five rebounds, a block and a steal in 17 minutes.
Junior Brian Muller topped the 1,000-point mark for his career with a 3-pointer with 10:40 to go in the first half, becoming the third player on the current squad (Green, Trevor Wages) and second this season (Wages) to go over 1,000 career points.
He was 4-of-9 from the floor and 2-of-6 from the perimeter on the way to 10 points. He scored all of his points in the first half and added four rebounds and three steals as well.
Wages added 10 points, five rebounds, two blocks and three steals in 21 minutes. After entering the contest fourth nationally in field goal percentage, Wages was efficient once again after finishing 4-of-6 from the floor and 2-of-2 from the foul line.
Junior Trevor Ritchie and freshman Gokul Natesan added nine points apiece, with Ritchie topping the squad with four assists and Natesan tying for the team lead with three steals.
Senior Luke Meisch finished with four points and now needs just three more to go over 1,000 for his career.
Mines will close out its regular season home slate on Saturday with a 7 p.m. Senior Night matchup against Chadron State at Lockridge Arena. The Eagles (10-12, 7-11 RMAC) lost by a score of 94-74 on Friday at Colorado Christian in Lakewood.
