COLORADO SPRINGS - UCCS led virtually the entire way in a frustrating shooting night for Colorado School of Mines as the Orediggers fell 81-70 in the regular season's penultimate game.

The result means the Orediggers (20-7, 14-7 RMAC) must win Saturday at MSU Denver in order to secure a home RMAC Tournament quarterfinal; a loss would tie them with Adams State, who beat them head-to-head, for the fourth seed. MSU Denver has an indentical 14-7 RMAC record.

Ben Sonnefeld led Mines with 16 points and three steals as Adam Laine shot 7-of-10 for 14 points to go with seven rebounds. Luke Schroepfer hadded nine as Michael Glen, Duke Douglas, and Zach Rusk had eight points apiece. Mines was held to 37.5 percent as UCCS shot a red-hot 57.4 percent.

A 14-0 first-half run by UCCS gave them control of the game, but Mines chipped away and drew within two after Sonnefeld's layup with 7:59 left before the half. That would be as close as Mines would come for the rest of the game as UCCS reeled off another 10-0 stretch to lead 34-28 at halftime, then come out with a hot start to the second to build the lead to double digits.

Although UCCS shot poorly from the line overall, they were clutch in closing out as they sank eight in a row in the final 1:03 to halt any hopes of a Mines comeback after Ben Sonnefeld's three-pointer cut the deficit to single digits with 1:04 remaining.

NOTABLES
- Mines took 18 more shots than UCCS (72 to 54) and led 17-9 on offensive boards. UCCS was up 30-21 on the defensive glass.
- Free throws made the difference as UCCS sank 15 on 25 chances and Mines nine on 11 tries.

NEXT UP
Mines closes the regular season at MSU Denver Saturday at 7:30 p.m. The game will air live on CET Sports.