GOLDEN, Colo. – The #10/9 Colorado School of Mines men's basketball team closed the book on home action in 2022 Sunday night at Lockridge Arena as for the second night in a row, a big first half set the tone for the rest of the evening as they hit the 100-point mark for the second time in as many games this weekend, knocking off Western Colorado 101-59.
 
The Orediggers (11-1, 5-1) scored first and never trailed for the second time this weekend, shooting 55.6% from the floor in the game while playing well on defense, holding the Mountaineers (2-7, 0-5) to 40% shooting and below 30% from three and holding the opposition to just 27 points in the final 20 minutes to secure their 11th win of the season.
 
Kai Barr kicked off the scoring for Mines, who opened the game on a 13-4 run fueled by a trio of three-pointers from Brendan Sullivan and Cade Mankle who both had the hot hand early. Western Colorado was able to keep pace with the Orediggers for about the first 10 or so minutes of the evening and was within six at 26-20 with 7:33 remaining after two free throws before back-to-back buckets from Adam Thistlewood with 6:47 to play pushed the Mines lead back to 10 at 30-20 as it never dropped below double-digits for the remainder of the contest.
 
Grant Pressly, who had by far his best night of the season, made it a 20-point game with just over minute to go before the break at 50-30 as he went 3-3 from the field in the opening half. A Gino Corridori basket briefly brought the margin back below 20 before Mines connected on a pair of treys to end the half, first from Thistlewood from Reagan Koch before Sullivan connected on a 54-foot heave from the other side of half court and found nothing but nylon to beat the buzzer and make it 56-32 at the half.
 
The Mines lead hit 30 for the first time in the game after they opened the second half on a 6-0 run by way of Sam Beskind, Barr and Thistlewood over the first three minutes before WCU called a timeout. Unfortunately for the Mountaineers, the shots continued not falling as the Orediggers continued to lead by about 30 for most of the middle stages of the period.
 
Riley Schroeder helped the Orediggers maintain their pace on offense in the second half, scoring 14 of his 18 points over the final 20 minutes of action that at one point saw him score on three consecutive possessions to make it 86-53.
 
Koch made it a 40-point game for the first time with 4:01 to play as he connected on a three before a pair of buckets from Adam Krasovec put Mines on the cusp of 100 with 2:30 remaining.  A 2-2 trip to the stripe by Koch moments later took care of that as a late basket from WCU only made a dent in the lead as time expired on a 101-59 win.
 
NOTABLES
-Sullivan led all scorers with 24 points on 8-10 shooting for the second night in a row that included 3-5 from three
- Schroeder came off the bench to score a season-best 18 points on 8-10 from the field with five rebounds
-Mankle finished one point shy of his season high with 14 points to go with three boards and two assists
-Thistlewood added 13 points with four rebounds, a steal and an assist as the Orediggers have now had four or more players hit double figures seven times this season
-Krasovec, Koch and Pressly each finished with seven, with the second recording a season-high five steals and the latter also dishing out a season-best six assists
-The last time Mines scored 100 or more points in back-to-back games was the 2014-14, during which they accomplished the feat twice
-Mines now has their first season with multiple 100-point outings for the first time since the 2018-19 season

LOOKING AHEAD
Before turning over the calendar to 2023, Mines will be back in action on New Year's Eve on the road at Colorado Christian at 5 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.