Box Score #21 Colorado School of Mines held off a late rally by Haskell Indian Nations to win, 85-67, at home on Nov. 28.
The Orediggers (5-1) used a decisive 10-2 run after the Indians (2-7) brought it within four points with 6:13 remaining. Gokul Natesan poured in 25 points, and Joe Dellenbach had a career night with 16 points and six assists to lead Mines.
Mines controlled the first half and led 44-33 at the break, and they extended the lead early in the second half punctuated by Dellenbach's alley-oop jam from Natesan to push the lead to 54-37.
Haskell chipped away, however, and a 9-0 run later in the period cut the Oredigger lead to 65-61 after back-to-back Wilber Everett layups. Garrett Loew stopped the run with a three-pointer from the top of the key, then sank a baseline layup before Ben Sonnefeld drilled a three and Zach Rusk made a pair of free throws to re-establish a double-digit lead at 75-63 with 2:21 to go.
Mines left no doubt as Dellenbach made three buckets sandwiched around a Natesan layup over a 1:13 span.
NOTABLES
- Ben Sonnefeld notched a career-high with eight rebounds to go with 10 points and six assists.
- Mines dished out 29 assists, led by Sonnefeld and Dellenbach with six each. That's Mines' highest team total since beating Colorado Christian 119-97 on Dec. 21, 2013.
- Mines was red-hot from beyond the arc, draining 11 of their 21 tries. That helped as the Orediggers were held to a season-low five free throw opportunities.
- Natesan went over 20 points for the third straight game, and now averages a team-best 22.5 points per game this season. He was 10-of-16 overall and 5-of-8 from beyond the arc.
- Dellenbach's career night came despite being limited to 21 minutes due to foul trouble in both halves. He had five assists in the first half alone, and shot an outstanding 7-of-10 from the floor overall.
- Haskell was led by a superb game from Duelle Gore, who had 23 points with seven rebounds.
NEXT UP
Mines starts RMAC play Dec. 5, visiting Colorado Christian for a 7 p.m. start.
