SAN ANTONIO, Texas – On the road for the second time in as many weeks to open the 2023-24 season, the #18 Colorado School of Mines men's basketball team squared off with Lone Star Conference foe Lubbock Christian in regional crossover action Friday at Bill Greehey Arena. The Orediggers (2-1) and Chapparals (1-2) engaged in a back-and-forth battle that saw six ties and seven lead changes, but in the end it was Mines who came out on top in a classic to start the weekend by a final score of 61-59.
 
The Chaps won the opening tip and scored the first points of the day on a Ty Caswell three, but Mines answered right back as Majok Deng opened the scoring the blue and silver for the third straight game with a put-back jumper as both teams were off to the races in the early going. Both sides exchanged baskets over the opening seven minutes of play before LCU managed a slight edge at 14-8 when the first whistle of the day for a media timeout gave everyone a chance to catch their breath at the 13:36 mark.
 
On the other side of the break, Riley Schroeder scored back-to-back buckets for the Orediggers to close it within two by the next media break at 11:25 at 14-12. Following a layup by Kurt Wegscheider, Sam Beskind and Markus Pastorcic-Straun drained consecutive treys to put Mines out front for the first time with 9:35 to go in the half at 18-16.
 
After layups from Alex Romack and Schroeder made it a four-point lead at 22-18, Lubbock Christian responded with back-to-back three-pointers of their own to regain the lead with 6:28 in the half, but Schroeder's hot start to the afternoon continued as his layup from Romack with 3:39 to play put the Orediggers back out front 26-24. After a driving layup from Pastorcic-Straun, Schroeder showed off his range connecting on a three-pointer to make it a seven-point game at 31-24 before LCU scored the last five to end the half, including a three at the horn from Najeeb Muhammad to cut the Mines lead to 31-29 after 20 minutes.
 
With the restart of play in the second half, things remained close on the scoreboard as Mines maintained a slim lead while Lubbock Christian kept answering baskets with baskets. A quick 6-0 run by the Chaps around the 15-minute mark saw them regain the lead 41-38, but 10-straight points from Deng, including two treys sandwiched around a three-ball from LCU ended up seeing Mines regain the lead 48-44 with 10:55 left.
 
Once again, LCU showed their ability to take a punch and throw one right back, retaking the lead on a steal and score by Muhammad at 8:39 to swing the score back the other way at 51 before Tiras Morton made it a three-point lead with a layup on the next possession. The Chapparals held onto the lead until just 2:42 remained in the game when Pastorcic-Straun continued his fine day off the bench, laying one up and in to tie things at 57 before hitting the go-ahead jumper following a steal of his own with 86 seconds left to make it 59-57. Beskind added an insurance basket with 13 seconds to play as a last-ditch effort by the Chaps to try and score four points in four seconds was not to be as the Orediggers held on to win a classic to begin the weekend 61-59.
 
NOTABLES
-Deng led the way in scoring for the third game in a row with 17 points on 7-13 shooting; he's now scored 59 points in three games and is just eight points away from matching his collegiate total entering this season from four seasons at Pepperdine
-Beskind recorded the first double-double of this collegiate career with 13 points and 11 rebounds and went 5-9 from the floor with three assists and posted double -figures in the scoring column for the second game in a row
-Schroeder finished in double-digits for the first times this season, also going for 13 on 6-9 shooting with two blocks and three boards
-Pastorcic-Straun posted the first double-figure game of his career, adding 11 off the bench on 5-10 from the floor with four rebounds
-Romack hauled down a career-best 14 rebounds, including 11 on the defensive glass, while also scoring seven on 3-5 shooting; he now has 31 boards in three career games and is averaging 10.3 RPG in the early going
-Grant Pressly added three assists in seven minutes off the bench
-Mines more than doubled their block total for the season, entering today with four and registering six against the Chaps
-For the game, the Orediggers had a +16 advantage on the glass, pulling down 41 rebounds
 
UP NEXT
Mines will close out the weekend Saturday at 4 p.m. CT against this weekend's host of the regional crossover St. Mary's.
 
Fans can keep up with Mines men's basketball on Twitter and Instagram 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.