SALT LAKE CITY - Colorado School of Mines nearly erased a 16-point second-half deficit, but Westminster's hot shooting was too much in an 80-78 road setback.

The Orediggers (14-9, 12-7 RMAC) were led by a pair of career highs from Kai Barr and Riley Schroeder, but the Griffins (10-15, 8-11 RMAC) shot .623 for the game including 10-of-20 for three to build their lead.

Barr dropped in 19 points to go with six rebounds, while Schroeder had 17 as the post duo led Mines' comeback. WC's Taylor Miller was a nearly-perfect 8-of-9 off the bench for 21 points and Matt Kitzman scored 13 in an otherwise distributed scoring effort for the home team.

The first half was all Griffins as Mines shot a tough .363 to Westminster's .615, and the home side took a 41-32 lead into the break after leading by as much as 14 in the half.

In the second, Westminster jumped out on a 7-0 run to lead 48-32, and Mines didn't get the deficit back to single digits until the midpoint of the half on a pair of Barr free throws to cut it to 59-50. The WC lead hovered around 10 for the next five minutes until threes from Ben Boone and Brendan Sullivan made it 78-73 with 2:10 remaining.

A moving screen by WC gave Mines the ball back for Barr to convert two points and make it a one-basket game for the first time since 2-0, and after a Kitzman jumper, Boone's three with 49 seconds to go made it 80-78.

Westminster ran the clock but missed a three-pointer, and that gave Mines 13 seconds to find a basket; Schroeder's three-point bid to win was off the mark and Boone just missed his putback attempt at the buzzer that would've forced overtime as WC escape with the win.

NOTABLES
- Barr scored 19 for the second straight game to tie his career high; Schroeder's previous best was 12 set three times this season. 
- Sullivan pitched in 13 points, two assists, and two steals, while Boone had 12 points, three boards, and a team-high four assists.
- Westminster was 5-of-8 for three in the first half on their way to 10-of-20 overall.
- After shooting .363 in the first half, Mines was .586 in the second including 5-of-7 for three and 7-of-7 at the line.
- Mines held a 30-27 rebounding edge.

NEXT UP
Mines heads to Colorado Mesa Saturday for a 7:30 p.m. tipoff.