DENVER - #9 Colorado School of Mines relied on distributed scoring and a tenacious defense to beat St. Mary's (Texas) 67-53 on the final day of the Conference Challenge at Regis.
The Rattlers (0-2) committed 18 turnovers leading to 13 Oredigger (2-0) points. Mines generated 10 steals, including four by
Duke Douglas as part of his 16-point, 6-for-8 effort in the game.
Luke Schroepfer had 14 points and
Ben Sonnefeld 11 to go with four assists. Five other Orediggers had five or more points including
Mason Baker's eight off the bench.
St. Mary's got off to a hot start, but the Orediggers never trailed after a 9-2 run in the first half gave them control; back-to-back threes by Baker sparked a 13-2 run that made a 37-27 advantage at halftime. SMU never got closer than eight points in the second half as Mines won going away with their largest lead at 16 in the closing seconds.
Sonnefeld and Baker each had two steals, while
Ben Clare had two blocks to go with a team-high six rebounds. SMU was led by Petar Radojicic's 16 points and eight boards.
Mines hosts Fort Hays State in their home opener next Friday at 7 p.m.
