GOLDEN, Colo. - #6 Colorado School of Mines had little trouble in its NCAA Division II Men's Basketball tournament opener, blowing past Biola 83-52 and into the Sweet 16.

The Orediggers (17-2) will now have to stop the Cinderella run of Northwest Nazarene, who stunned #1 Colorado Mesa 75-54, when they meet in Monday's regional final at 7 p.m.

Ben Boone led Mines with 19 points and Kobi Betts poured in 14. The Mines defense was magnificent, holding the Eagles to 52 points and their leading scorer, Alex Wright, scoreless. Mines shot an impressive .579 for the game including 9-of-16 (.563) for three while holding Biola to .379. The Eagles (10-4) were led by Michael Bagatourian's 16 points.

Mines trailed for barely two minutes in the first half, using an early 8-0 run keyed by Michael Glen and Boone three-pointers to take control of the game. Glen and Boone each added three-point plays after a Biola bucket, and that sparked another 6-0 run to lead 20-10. The lead continued to balloon from there, going up as much as 19 when Titus Reed made a jumper with 1:11 to go, and Kobi Betts beat the buzzer with a 16-footer to send Mines into the break up 45-26.

The second half was never in doubt as Mines' punishing defensive play continued to generate stops, and a 9-0 run mid-half gave the home team their largest lead of the game to that point, 66-36, after Kai Barr's layup at the 9:59 mark. The lead gave Pryor Orser a chance to play his reserves for the final 2:13, with Taylor Spurlock and Riley Schroeder each scoring late baskets.

NORTHWEST NAZARENE VS. COLORADO MESA
In the other second round game, fifth seed Northwest Nazarene - making their NCAA Tournament debut - controlled the pace to shock the nation's top-ranked team in Colorado Mesa. Ezekiel Alley scored a career-high 30 points to lead the Nighthawks, who led wire-to-wire. 

NOTABLES
- Mines is in the Sweet 16 for the third time (2012, 2017, 2021), all under Pryor Orser. The Orediggers are 1-1 in regional finals, advancing to the Elite Eight in 2017.
- The Orediggers received a first-round bye this year and were playing in their NCAA opener.
- Mines and Biola were playing for the first time. The Orediggers will meet Northwest Nazarene for the eighth time and first since 2010.
- With the nation's #3 scoring defense, Mines has held opponents to 55 or fewer points eight times this season.
- Titus Reed was a spark off the bench with 11 points, and Kai Barr had a career-high eight while Trent Dykema pitched in seven. The Oredigger bench contributed 30 points.
- Despite fouling out with nearly four minutes left, Boone had a tremendous offensive night, putting up 19 points on 7-of-8 shooting, 4-of-4 three-point shooting, and collecting three rebounds, two steals, and a block in just 19 minutes.
- Michael Glen came near a double-double with eight points and as many rebounds, and added a block and a steal.
- Mines led 37-26 on the glass.

NEXT UP
Mines and Northwest Nazarene will square off in the regional final on Monday at 7 p.m. The winner will advance to the Elite Eight in Evansville, Ind.