COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – Back on the road but just a little farther south Saturday evening, the #6/10 Colorado School of Mines men's basketball team continued their second four-game road trip of the season at the Gallogly Events Center and once again, relied on a balanced scoring attack combined with another stifling defensive effort to win their seventh straight game, downing UCCS 85-66 in Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference action.
 
Ben Boone led the way off the bench for the Orediggers (16-1, 10-1) and picked up right where he left off in last season's RMAC tournament game in Springs, leading all scorers with 19 points while Adam Thistlewood recorded his first career double-double as three others also finished in double-digits while the Mountain Lions (13-5, 7-4) struggled to shoot the ball all night, going just 35% from the field and 20% from three in the game.
 
UCCS kicked off the night's scoring and held the advantage for the first five minutes of the game before Thistlewood tied things up at 8-8 before Adam Krasovec gave Mines their first lead of the night off a turnover with a jumper at the 14:13 mark. Jon'Il Fugett and Sufyan Elkannan put the Mountain Lions back ahead in short order on their next two possessions before Boone flipped the lead for what ended up being the final time in the game with a trey at 11:51 that was followed in short order by another three, this time from Brendan Sullivan to make it 14-10 halfway through the period.
 
A jumper by Elkannan looked to keep the Mountain Lions close, but an 8-0 Mines run that saw threes from Boone and Sullivan sandwiched around a Reagan Koch jumper quickly made it 22-12 with 8:44 to play as the lead steadily increased over the balance of play. Another quick 6-0 outburst keyed off by Sam Beskind made it a 15-point game at 28-13 and while UCCS tried to claw their way back, Thistlewood and Kai Barr would have none of it, as buckets by that duo pushed the lead up to 16 on three occasions before a Sullivan jumper made it 39-21 with under three minutes to play.
 
While the Mountain Lions did score the next seven after the Sullivan make, a pair of free throws by Koch closed out the first 20 minutes with Mines up 13 at 41-28.
 
As the action resumed in the final period of the night, the Orediggers worked to maintain their lead and keep UCCS at a comfortable distance. An Adam Krasovec three made it 54-35 with 13:50 to play in the game before the Mountain Lions worked to close the gap to 11 at 60-49 with 10:20 left with an 8-3 run, but Mines responded with a 9-0 run of their own that included a pair of jumpers from Boone to make it a 20-points game for the first time at 69-49.
 
The advantage never dropped below 16 for the final 16 minutes of the game, as the Orediggers continued to work on offense, pushing the lead to as much as 23 with 3:47 remaining on a layup inside from Thistlewood to make it 81-58. UCCS scored the next seven as they looked to mount a last-ditch rally, but jumpers from Trent Dykema and Krasovec stopped any thoughts of that in its track to push the lead back to 20 before a 1-2 trip to the free throw line by the home team wrapped up the night as Mines secured the 85-66 win.
 
NOTABLES
-Once again, five Orediggers finished in double-digits led by Boone, as he came off the bench to lead all scorers in the game with 19 points on 6-11 shooting, including 3-5 from three
-Thistlewood recorded the first double-double of his collegiate career, finishing with 15 points and 10 boards
-Sullivan added 13 points and four rebounds while Barr scored 12 on 6-8 shooting with four boards of his own
-Koch also came off the bench to add 10 points, going 3-6 from the floor with three rebounds and three assists
-Mines shot just under 50% for the game and shot 47.1% from three-point land while also pulling down 45 rebounds, with 13 coming on the offensive glass
-The Orediggers finished the weekend with 80 points off the bench in two games, getting 38 tonight on the heels of 43 Friday night at Regis

LOOKING AHEAD
Mines continues their four-game road trip Tuesday when they head back to Denver for the season's second matchup with MSU Denver at the Auraria Event Center 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.