SEASIDE, Calif. – Closing out the Otter Classic Saturday night at the Kelp bed, the #21 Colorado School of Mines men's basketball took on the host this weekend Cal State Monterey Bay and got big performances across the lineup to remain unbeaten on the young season with an 86-77 win.
 
The Orediggers (4-0) saw five players score in double figures, getting 25 from newcomer Sam Beskind to lead the way while shooting nearly 52% from the field in the game keep the Otters (2-2) at bay for most of the night.
 
Adam Thistlewood kicked the evening off with a three as the Orediggers and Otters traded blows in the opening moments of the contest, with the lead changing hands four times in the opening four minutes with the fourth change coming on a Kai Barr jumper at the 16:10 mark. Reagan Koch connected on a three on the next possession to make it 13-9 as CSUMB remained close behind.
 
Jared Williams made it a two-point game at 15-13 at the 14:16 mark in the half before Mines slowly started to build some cushion in the lead. A jumper from Beskind made it 24-18 before another trey from Koch pushed the lead to eight. Beskind scored the next two before Riley Schroeder drained a jumper to make it a 14-point lead at 33-19.
 
The Orediggers were able to maintain the double-digit lead until Joe Wall trimmed down to nine at 35-26 with just under seven to play in the half as the Otters were able to close within one at 37-36 with 4:56 to play following an Ameere Britton three as part of a 15-2 run. Mines tried to weather the surge as best they could and although CSUMB briefly retook the lead on a few occasions over the closing minutes of the half, Trent Dykema put the Orediggers back ahead for good with a jumper before Koch and Beskind each hit a three before heading to the locker room to lead 50-46 after a fast-paced opening 20 minutes.
 
As the second half started, Mines was able to keep Cal State Monterey Bay at arm's length with their lead ranging from four to seven points for most of first nine minutes of play. Brendan Sullivan briefly pushed the margin to eight at 64-56 with a layup at the 11:38 mark, but a quick 5-0 surge from Jordan Archie and Britton brought the Otters back within three.
 
Unshaken, the Orediggers gradually extended their lead back up to as much as nine with 7:38 to play after a layup by Schroeder as the home team kept chasing points to draw back even. The closest they were able to close was four following a jumper from Wall with three minutes to play, but a 7-0 run by Mines pushed the lead back to double figures at 11 with less than a minute to play. As was the case Friday night, the Orediggers wrapped things up from the free throw line, with Koch concluding the scoring with a 2-2 trip in the final 30 seconds to wrap up the 86-77 win.
 
NOTABLES
-Beskind's 25 points are a career-high as he went 10-13 from the floor with seven boards, five assists and three steals as he played all 40 minutes
-Schroeder finished with 15 points, shooting 4-7 in the game and 6-8 from the stripe and was one rebound shy of a double-double; he was two points away from his career-high of 17 which came on February 22 at Westminster
-Thistlewood posted his third double-figure game in a Mines uniform, going for 14 that included 6-9 from the free throw line and just missed out on a double-double with nine boards
-Koch recorded a career-high 15 points, going 5-8 from the field while two rebounds, two steals and four assists
-Barr posted his first double-digit outing of the season, ending with 11 points on 5-7 shooting with four boards
-The Orediggers finished with a 36-31 advantage on the glass and recorded 19 assists on 29 made field goals

LOOKING AHEAD
The Orediggers wrap up non-conference play when they return home to Golden for a pair of games after the Thanksgiving holiday, beginning Friday November 25 against Kansas Wesleyan before taking on Westcliff Saturday November 26. Both games will tip-off at 5 p.m. at Lockridge Arena.
 
Fans can keep up with Mines men's basketball on Twitter at @minesmbb. They can also keep up with Colorado School of Mines Athletics all year long on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram using the handle @MinesAthletics.