SALT LAKE CITY -
Murphy Gershman's putback buzzerbeater helped Colorado School of Mines escape Westminster with a hard-fought 69-67 win to sweep the season series from the Griffins.
Thanks to a wild weekend across the RMAC in which the three one-loss teams tied for the league lead all lost, Mines (12-3, 7-2 RMAC) will come home a half-game behind Fort Lewis for first place, tied with CSU-Pueblo and Colorado Christian.
Luke Schroepfer led all Orediggers with 17 points, with
Gokul Natesan scoring 15.
Caleb Waitsman, Gershman, and
Adam Laine each scored eight, with Gershman grabbing a game-high eight rebounds as well.Â
Mines and Westminster were playing for the second time in eight days after Mines won 70-64 back on Dec. 30 in Golden. This time, Mines never trailed after the opening bucket, although the Griffins forced 3 ties in the game - first at halftime, then twice in the final minute before Gershman's winner.
The Orediggers led by as much as 11 in the first half after a 12-2 run to open the game put them in control, but the Griffins ended the half on a 15-4 run to tie it at 29 at the half.
Mines came firing out of the locker room with threes from Natesan and Schroepfer, and a quick 5-0 spurt later in the half put their lead back to 10, 42-42, with 15:19 to go. Westminster would work to cut it down, however, and pulled within one after Tanner Newbold's jumper at the 7:53 mark. Both teams then scored in bunches at the line over the balance of the game, and Mines would cling to a 65-64 lead heading into the final minute.
The last 60 seconds saw Dayon Goodman tie the game for Westminster on a free throw but miss a potential go-ahead try after Waitsman fouled out. Goodman then fouled out himself with 42 seconds remaining and Schroepfer put Mines back on top with both of his foul shots, but Zerrion Payton's putback with 31 seconds left tied the game again at 67.
Mines had the ball with a .3 difference between the clocks, and out of a timeout, Natesan took a three that was rebounded by Gershman, who was blocked on his first putback attempt but had just enough time to beat the buzzer on his second try.
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NOTABLES
- It was Mines' second buzzerbeater win of the season after Natesan's three-pointer beat Fort Hays State on Nov. 19, also on the road.
- Mines shot only 38.2 percent for the game but went 19-of-24 at the line and drained eight threes. Westminster shot 43.8 percent and was 20-of-26 at the stripe.
- The Orediggers held a commanding 39-28 rebounding margin, including 16 offensive rebounds. Second-chance points were a huge advantage for Mines, with 20 to WC's 8, including Gershman's winner.
- With his three steals,
Gokul Natesan surpassed Raul Varela for second on the Mines career list. He now has 208, trailing only Mike Ziegler's record of 234 compiled from 1986 to 1990. Natesan also moved up two spots to 11th on the career scoring list (1,655 points).
- Casey Evans' 17 points led the Griffins.
NEXT UP
Mines returns home to host Colorado Mesa on Friday at 7 p.m. Note the start time of that game has changed from 8 p.m. as the doubleheader will air live on CET.
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