Photo courtesy Edwards Jacobs/MSU Denver Athletics

DENVER, Colo. - A hot shooting night and a total team effort on offense led Colorado School of Mines to a 91-78 win at MSU Denver.

The streaking Orediggers (12-7, 10-5 RMAC) won their seventh straight game as they sank a season-high 13 three-pointers and shot .547 overall. Brendan Sullivan led the charge with a 19-point, seven-rebound effort and Ben Boone was 6-of-8 overall and 3-of-3 from the outside to build 17 points.

The Roadrunners (13-7, 7-7 RMAC) dropped their third straight at home despite Tyrei Randall's 18 points and Laolu Oke's 17-point, nine-rebound game. 

Mines was 13-of-23 for three and an impressive 20-of-22 at the line as they put five players in double figures. Riley Schroeder, Justin Engesser, and Trent Dykema each scored 11 and Adam Krasovec had eight in his return to the lineup.

The final score belies a competitive first half that featured 12 lead changes and four ties before Mines ended the period on an 8-0 run to control the game for good. A highlight-reel dunk by Oke with 1:39 remaining put MSU Denver up 41-40, but he was assessed a technical foul for hanging on the rim and Mines capitalized with eight points in the final minute and a half; Dykema made the free throw and Paul O'Leary had a putback and-one layup to take the lead before a Dykema jumper and Grant Pressly's last-second tip-in made it 48-41 Orediggers at the break.

The momentum carried into the second half as Mines quickly went up 10 on a Boone three-pointer, and a 9-2 run moments later capped by an Engesser three blew the game open with a 16-point lead, 64-48, with 13:20 to go.

There was no quit in the Roadrunners, paring the deficit back to 10 over the next five minutes, but Mines hit the gas as Boone bookended an 8-0 run to lead 85-67 and put the game away with five minutes left. 

NOTABLES
- The Orediggers set a new season high for scoring surpassing their 89 points against South Dakota Mines.
- Six different Orediggers had a three-pointer including Sullivan, Boone, and Engesser with three each. 
- Grant Pressly made his first career start at point guard, playing 31 minutes and scoring four points with three assists and three rebounds.
- The Mines bench once again produced big numbers with 31 points as Engesser and Dykema combined for 22 points and 5-of-7 three-point shooting.
- Mines held a 31-28 rebounding edge.
- The Roadrunners shot .482 overall on half splits of .517 and .444. The outside shooting gap made a difference though as they were just 6-of-15. 
- Mines improved to 45-36 all-time against the Roadrunners, winning their sixth in a row in the series. The Orediggers' point total was their most against MSU Denver since 1997 when they won 97-90. 

NEXT UP
Mines visits Colorado Christian Saturday for a 7 p.m. start.