GOLDEN, Colo. – Returning home for the first time in two weeks, the #5/6 Colorado School of Mines men's basketball team lined up opposite #17/RV Fort Lewis Friday night at Lockridge Arena in another battle of Top 25 teams. Despite holding a lead at halftime, some late runs from Fort Lewis in the closing moments dealt Mines just their second setback of the season by a score of 93-87.
 
The Orediggers (18-2, 12-2) scored late to take the lead in a back-and-forth first half but a slow start to the second half proved a challenge to overcome despite getting a combined 28 points off the bench from Adam Krasovec and Riley Schroeder, as the Skyhawks (17-2, 11-2) shot almost 57% from the floor in the half and saw four players in double figures including a 34-point game from Akuel Kot in the win.
 
The night got off to a frenetic start with Fort Lewis scoring first a minute in before the teams traded buckets on six of the next eight possessions as the Skyhawks took the early lead. A Ben Boone triple made it a one-point game at 8-7 with 16:42 on the clock but the gap stretched to five on three occasions over the following minutes, the final time coming on a jumper by Kot to make it 16-11 at 13:34.
 
Mines continued to remain within striking distance and took their first lead of the game at24-23 on a jumper inside from Schroeder immediately following a triple from Krasovec. Brendan Sullivan kept the run going with a thunderous one-handed jam but was unable to convert to ensuing free throw before the Hungarian drained another from long range followed by another jumper to make it an eight-point lead at 31-23 with just under seven minutes in the half.
 
Much like the Orediggers had hung around to retake the lead, so too did the Skyhawks as they were able to go up by four with 88 seconds left before the break at 43-39 before a trey from Sam Beskind and a wide-open Adam Thistlewood layup closed the first 20 minutes with Mines up by one at 44-43.
 
Fort Lewis opened the second half on an 11-2 run to regain the lead for what ended up being the final time and led 54-46 five minutes into the period as Mines went just 1-7 after play resumed. FLC pushed their lead up to 10 at 58-48 with 13:02 to play, but the Orediggers weren't about to go out without a fight in front of a near-capacity crowd, as a three from Cade Mankle sparked a 7-0 to close back within three at 58-43 with just over 11 minutes left.
 
The Skyhawks weathered the storm and worked their lead back to nine at 67-58 with 8:02 to play on a Dunnell Stafford jumper, but again Mines charged back, energizing the crowd with an 8-0 run capped by an inside jumper from Kai Barr to make it 67-66 at the 5:46 mark. Unfortunately for the Orediggers, what followed was an 11-0 run from the visitors that included three-straight three-pointers and ran the gap back to nine at 80-71 with 3:02 to play.
 
A Sullivan three made it 82-76 with 1:44 left, but with time winding down, Mines was forced to foul to extend the game by sending FLC to the free throw line, but it wasn't enough. Despite a flurry of late treys from Reagan Koch and Sullivan, Mines ran out of game, dropping their second game of the season 93-87.
 
NOTABLES
-Krasovec scored a season-high 16 points on 6-9 shooting and finished one point shy of his career high
-Thistlewood and Schroeder each went for 12 and combined to go 11-20 from the floor with 10 rebounds between them
-Koch snuck into double figures late and finished with 11 on 4-5 shooting and was a perfect 3-3 from deep along with three boards
-Sullivan rebounded from last weekend and closed with 10 points on 4-7 shooting with five rebounds and three assists
-Boone dished out a game and season-high six assists and added four rebounds

LOOKING AHEAD
The Orediggers will look to bounce back when they take on Adams State Saturday night at Lockridge Arena at 7 p.m. before returning to the road to take on Black Hills State and South Dakota Mines February 3-4.
 
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.