GOLDEN, Colo. – It wasn't pretty at times throughout the night at Lockridge Arena Saturday, but the #7/10 Colorado School of Mines men's basketball team overcame a slow start to the evening on offense against New Mexico Highlands in Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference action, extending their winning streak to five games with a 76-56 win.
 
Neither the Orediggers (14-1, 8-1) or the Cowboys (6-10, 4-6) were particularly proficient on offense in the opening minutes of the game, but the home team was able to hit their stride in the second half, shooting better than 57% over the final 20 minutes that saw Adam Thistlewood score 15 of his 23 points in the period to overcome a scrappy NMHU team to emerge with the 20-point win.
 
TJ Sanchez got the visitors on the board first as it was tough sledding for both teams on offense to start the night as out of the first 21 shots of the evening between the Orediggers and Cowboys, just six found nylon. The lead exchanged hands a few times in the opening moments as neither side was able to gain a definitive edge as the shots struggled to fall, but Mines managed to tie the game on a three from Ben Boone before a layup by Riley Schroeder on the next possession following a turnover by NMHU made it 9-7 with 12:24 in the half that ended up being the final lead change of the night.
 
The Orediggers looked to stretch their lead on back-to-back treys from Boone and Reagan Koch at around the halfway mark in the period, but Dante Moses and Tyrell Coleman kept the Cowboys close as the gap hovered between five and seven points for about a three-minute stretch until Brendan Sullivan gave Mines their first double-digit lead of the night at 27-17 with a 2-2 trip to the free throw line with just under three minutes to play.
 
Five of final seven points in the first 20 minutes went the way of the Orediggers, with Thistlewood hitting a pair from the stripe before Cade Mankle knocked down a three in the final 84 seconds as the team went the break with Mines on top 33-19.
 
The second half started with a bang for the Orediggers, as a three from Sullivan and a layup in the paint from Thistlewood in the first 70 seconds of action looked like they may set the tone for an improved offensive showing in the final period of the night, but things cooled off just as soon as they looked like they may be heating up while New Mexico Highlands managed to rattle off six of the next seven points to close back within a dozen at 39-27 with just under 15 minutes to play.
 
Back-to-back treys from Boone and Sullivan stopped that run in its tracks as Mines was able to regain some of their early momentum and push the lead back to 18. NMHU continued to find ways to hang around however, using full court pressure to force turnovers on defense that were a part of a 9-0 run that cut the lead to all the way back to seven at 54-47 primarily through the efforts of Moses.
 
An resounding dunk by Thistlewood after a missed jumper by Moses swung momentum back in favor of the Orediggers and sparked off an 11-0 run that saw Sam Beskind score twice along with another basket from Thistlewood and another three from Koch to run the lead back to 18 at 65-47 with 4:30 to play.
 
The lead never dropped below 15 for the remainder of the of the evening, as the Golden native asserted his presence in the game, scoring nine of the final 11 points of the night for Mines before Kai Barr closed out the night with an inside jumper to cap the 76-56 win.
 
NOTABLES
-Thistlewood finished with a game-high 23 points to record his fifth 20-point showing of the season, scoring 15 in the second half while pulling down seven boards and recording two blocks
-Schroeder back up last night's outing with 13 more off the bench on 4-6 shooting with six boards and three assists
-Sullivan overcame a tough start to the night to end with 11 points and also pulled down six rebounds
-Beskind dished out five assists in the game, marking the ninth time he has recorded five or more this season
-Mines outrebounded N.M. Highlands 47-34 on the night and 13-10 on the offensive glass
-The Orediggers have now won four in a row in the series and 11 of the last 12 dating back to 2016

LOOKING AHEAD
Mines kicks off a four-game road trip beginning Friday January 13 at Regis followed by a trip to Colorado Springs the following day to play UCCS.
 
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.