GOLDEN, Colo. - It wasn't easy, but Colorado School of Mines came back to take a late lead and defeat New Mexico Highlands, 68-62, in a midweek RMAC contest at Lockridge Arena.

The surging Orediggers (9-7, 7-5 RMAC) won their fourth in a row with 41 points off the bench as Justin Engesser broke out for 16 and Kai Barr notched his first career double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds.

Center Andre Adams bossed the paint for the Cowboys (6-11, 1-10 RMAC) with 18 points while Sammy Barnes-Thompkins scored 15 and Desmond Carpenter 13.

NMHU led the entire first half as they made their first four shots and led by as much as six on multiple occasions; Mines briefly tied it 29-29 on an Engesser three with 3:01 to go but Cowboys ended the first on a 5-2 run to lead 34-31 at the break.  

Mines never led in the game until the 8:59 mark of the second half when an Engesser three followed by Grant Pressly's baseline cutter put them ahead 47-46. The Cowboys grabbed the lead back a minute later on an Adams layip but Ben Boone's jumper followed by a Trent Dykema triple gave Mines a lead that it would not relinquish. Those two buckets sparked a 15-2 run by Mines to eventually go up 64-52 with 2:15 remaining, and despite a valiant comeback by the Cowboys in the closing minutes, Mines did enough to hold them off for the win.

NOTABLES
- Engesser's 16 points marked his high in a Mines jersey for the grad transfer. He was 4-of-6 from downtown and 6-of-10 overall playing 32 minutes off the bench. 
- Barr's double-double included a career-high 10 rebounds as he added four assists, two blocks and a steal. Trent Dykema and Grant Pressly were also key bench contributors as Dykema had eight points and Pressly tied his career high with six in 26 minutes.
- The Oredigger bench outscored NMHU's 41-8. 
- The Cowboys are a hard-luck 1-10 in RMAC play; Wednesday night marked their sixth conference loss of the year by two or fewer possessions.
- Mines shot .450 overall to NMHU's .400. The Cowboys held a 39-35 rebounding edge.
- Mines - the top defensive team in the conference - held one of the RMAC's top scoring offenses at just under 80 points per game to 62, their third-lowest of the season.

NEXT UP
Mines heads to CSU Pueblo Friday for a 7:30 p.m. tip.