GOLDEN, Colo. – After opening the season with five games away from the comforts of home, the #18 Colorado School of Mines men's basketball team took the court at Lockridge Arena Monday night to kick off Thanksgiving week against NAIA foe Williams Baptist. The Orediggers (4-2) scored first and never trailed for the duration of the contest, leading by 27 at the half their way to a season-high scoring output as they flew past the Eagles (5-0), who were playing the game as an exhibition, by a final score of 86-51.
 
Williams Baptist won the opening tip, but turned if over 12 seconds later as Juani Dassie stole it away and dished it to Alex Romack for the first points of the night. Majok Deng drained a three-pointer two possessions later before Duke Hardin answered back with one of his own for WBU. A thunderous two-handed slam from Romack brought the crowd to their feet at 17:34 to extend the lead to five as it remained a close contest in the opening moments.
 
After a trey from Frank Petion closed the gap to just three at 16-13 with 14:21 in the half, a line change for the Orediggers brought about a momentum swing that opened things up. Markus Pastorcic-Straun picked the pocket of Cory Sanders and set up a possession that saw three offensive rebounds and ending with the freshman going to the free throw line. A make on the first made it a four-point lead on following a miss on the other end, the next Mines possession saw two more offensive boards and ended with a layup from Adam Krasovec. Deng and the big man from Hungary each hit a three on the next two possessions as the lead hit 12 and only went up from there.
 
Two free throws from Petion broke up a 12-0 Mines run but the home team got right back after it the next possession, as Cade Mankle, Krasovec, Dassie and Grant Pressly combined for the next 10 points to extend the lead to 23 at 38-15 with 7:17 in the period. Though the lead dropped below 20 briefly a few times in the minutes that followed, it reverted back and stayed that way for good with another jumper inside from Romack with 2:38 to play. Pressly and Riley Schroeder each scored in the closing minutes before Mankle buried a corner three just before the horn to make it 53-26 at the intermission.
 
Romack opened the second half up the way he did the first, scoring the first four points for Mines before Sam Beskind joined the party after dealing with some foul trouble in the opening minutes. A trey from Dassie made it a 32-point lead less than three minutes into the period and got as high as 39 on another three from Mankle to make it 69-30 with 14:56 to play.
 
Williams Baptist did their best to keep it competitive but the Orediggers were unrelenting on both the offensive and defensive ends of the floor. Mankle made it a 40-point game with 6:43 but a quick six points for the Eagles meant it didn't stay that way long, though the outcome was decided long ago. Jonathan Moore closing matters scoring with a free throw in the final 38 seconds as after Caleb Clark pulled down the final rebound of the night, the Orediggers dribbled out the clock for the 86-51 win.
 
NOTABLES
-Romack went for a game-high 21 points and recorded his first collegiate double-double, pulling down 11 boards while also adding an assist, a steal and a block all while going a perfect 10-10 from the floor
-His 100% shooting rate for the night is the first such game in program history with a minimum of 10 attempts; the previous single-game record for field goal percentage stood for more than 39 years was held by George Wayne, who went shot 93.3% (14-15) against Cal State Dominguez Hills all the way back on December 30, 1983
-Mankle followed up his performance Saturday with 18 points on 7-12 shooting with a trio of three-pointers while also adding three assists, two rebounds and a steal
-Deng had his lowest scoring output of the season but was hampered by foul trouble before getting the rest of the night off, still finishing with 10 points on 4-9 shooting and a career-high seven rebounds along with two assists
-Krasovec came off the bench to go for a season-high nine points on 4-6 shooting including a three-pointer with two rebounds in 12 minutes
-Dassie made the first start of his Mines career and went for seven points on 2-5 shooting with four rebounds and two assists
-Pressly had a game-high five assists off the bench along with three rebounds and two steals while Pastorcic-Straun added four dimes, four boards and two steals of his own
-Schroeder had four points, four offensive rebounds and two blocks
-Mines had 50 rebounds in the game, including 17 on the offensive glass, and dished out 22 assists on 34 made field goals while shooting 51.5% from the field on the night
-12 different players scored in the game for the Orediggers
-Redshirt freshman Wade Kahl made his collegiate debut, pulling down a rebound in three minutes of action
 
UP NEXT
Mines will have the rest of the week off and return to action on Friday December 1 for the start of Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference play against Colorado Mesa at 7:30 p.m. at Lockridge Arena.
 
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.