PUEBLO, Colo. - Colorado School of Mines remained hot, winning its fifth game in a row thanks to a big second half to down CSU Pueblo 81-61 on the road.
The Orediggers (10-7, 8-5 RMAC) were led by
Brendan Sullivan's 21 points as they outscored the Thunderwolves (8-11, 5-8 RMAC) 47-28 in the second half to pull away from a one-point lead at halftime.
Sullivan shot 8-of-14 and drained five three-pointers to lead the charge, scoring 16 of his 21 points in the first half.
Kobi Betts, playing in his hometown for perhaps the final time, had 15 points and four assists, and
Ben Boone added 14 points and five assists as Mines shot .541 overall and a torrid .633 after halftime.
The Thunderwolves were led by Lian Ramiro's 24 points and eight rebounds; they were held to .434 shooting, and Mines feasted off their 14 turnovers to produce 23 points.
CSU Pueblo led for virtually the entire first half until Sullivan's late three-pointer capped a 14-6 run to end the half and gave Mines the lead at halftime, 34-33.
The second half saw Mines come out on fire as they ran off a 19-10 stretch over the first seven minute to break the game out with a double-digit lead, 53-43; Betts scored seven straight Oredigger points at the end of that run capped by his three-point play at the 13:39 mark. CSU Pueblo was never in the game after that as Mines pulled away, winning by its largest lead of the game after back-to-back three-pointers by Boone and Sullivan in the closing minute established a 20-point lead and led the Orediggers clear out the bench to finish the game.
NOTABLES
- The Mines bench produced big points for the second straight game as
Trent Dykema had 10,
Justin Engesser six, and
Kai Barr six.
-
Paul O'Leary made his second career start and first of the season at center, scoring four points with two rebounds.
- Mines had 10 steals led by Engesser's three.
- After not even being in playoff position three weeks ago, the Orediggers end Friday night tied for third in the RMAC after Colorado Mesa lost against Fort Lewis and MSU Denver fell to Chadron State.
- The Orediggers won their sixth in a row against the Thunderwolves dating back to the 2018-19 season.
NEXT UP
Mines heads to Adams State Saturday night for a 7:30 p.m. start.
