GOLDEN, Colo. – Coming off the heels of a win in their home opener Friday night, the #13/13 Colorado School of Mines men's basketball team was able to complete the weekend sweep Saturday at Lockridge Arena against Westcliff, using a big second half and seeing five players reach double figures in an 86-59 win.
The Orediggers (6-0) led by just three at the half, but shot over 54% from the field and 58% from beyond the arc in the second half, led by
Brendan Sullivan and
Adam Thistlewood and were able to stymie the Warriors (1-1), who were playing the game as an exhibition, to just 8-25 from the floor and 1-9 from three over the final 20 minutes to run their season-opening winning streak to six games.
Sam Beskind scored the first four points of the evening for Mines but the Warriors were able to hang with the Orediggers in the early going. Back-to-back treys from Thistlewood and
Riley Schroeder gave Mines their biggest lead of the half at six, leading 12-6 with just under 15 minutes to play.
Westcliff matched the Orediggers just about shot for shot and were able to take the lead a 21-20 on an Abdul Abdullah jumper at the 8:41 mark. A Gary Harris jumper made it a three-point lead coming out of a timeout by Mines, but the lead was short-lived as a jumper from Sullivan and a sequence of free throws from
Kai Barr and
Trent Dykema following a pair of fouls on Gary Harris, including a dead ball technical, swung the score back the other way as Mines regained the lead 24-23.
The Warriors didn't back down as play marched on, tying the game on a Josh Harrison jumper before regaining the lead 33-30 on a three from Josh Jones at the 4:16 mark. Thistlewood put the Orediggers back ahead going into the break, scoring the last five points of the half on a pair of jumpers and a free throw to make it 38-35 after 20 minutes.
Coming out of the locker room, Beskind and Sullivan drained back-to-back threes to set the tone for the final 20 minutes of play and push the lead to nine at 44-35. The Warriors, who shot better than 55% in the first half, went ice cold to begin the period, connecting on just two shots in the first five minutes. A layup by Schroeder pushed the lead to double digits at 11 before Sullivan made it a 13-point game on another transition layup as the lead moved to 50-37 as Mines never looked back.
The lead remained at least 15 for the final 10:25 of the night, as the advantage hit 21 following a trey from Thistlewood at the 8:38 mark to make it 65-44 as part of a 7-2 run. A pair of triples from Sullivan and
Reagan Koch in succession around the six-minute mark gave the Orediggers a 27-point cushion at 78-51.
Barr put an exclamation point on the night with an emphatic dunk in the final 68 seconds to make it a 29-point lead before Westcliff closed out the scoring with a last-minute jumper that did little to make it a dent in the lead, as Mines doubled up the Warriors 48-24 in the second half to win 86-59.
NOTABLES
-Thistlewood led all scorers with 20 points on 6-11 shooting, including 3-6 from three with six boards
-Sullivan poured home 19 on 8-14 shooting and has a season-high six assists with two steals and two rebounds
-Barr recorded his second double-digit outing of the season, going for a season-high 13 on 5-8 shooting with three rebounds
-Beskind and Schroeder each finished with 11 and combined for nine rebounds and seven assists
-Five different players finished in double figure scoring for the second time this season
-Mines is 6-0 to start the season for the second time in the last three seasons; the last time they did it was in the 2020-21 season when they won 13 straight to open the season
LOOKING AHEAD
The Orediggers open RMAC play this week with a trip out west, taking on Colorado Mesa Friday December 2 at 7:30 p.m. before heading to Utah Saturday December 3 for a contest with Westminster at 7 p.m.
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.
