GOLDEN, Colo. – Back at home for the first of their final two home games of the 2022-23 regular season, the #19/25 Colorado School of Mines men's basketball team led for all but 93 seconds Friday night at Lockridge Arena, as they picked up their first win on a Friday night on more than a month with an 83-58 win over Colorado Christian.
 
The Orediggers (21-4, 15-4) got four double-digit showings led by Adam Thistlewood's 19 while Trent Dykema turned in his best showing of the season as he returned to the starting lineup as the defense held the Cougars (9-17, 5-14) to just 36.2% shooting from the floor and just 15% (3-20) from beyond the arc while forcing 12 turnovers in the game.
 
CCU scored the first point of the night for their only lead on a 1-2 trip to the line from Jason Gallant at the 18:24 mark after a combined 0-5 start to the game shooting before Brendan Sullivan drained a second chance three-pointer at 17:41 to put Mines ahead as they never looked back.
 
A three-point play from Thistlewood and a jumper from Dykema quickly make it 8-1 at 15:33 as the Cougars continued to struggle from the floor shooting. A layup by Kai Barr followed by back-to-back treys from Sam Beskind following two CCU free throws made it a 16-3 game with 13:04 to play.
 
A Riley Schroder jumper made it a 15-point game moments later as the Orediggers continued to make the Cougars uncomfortable on offense while maintaining their lead, which never dropped below 11 for the balance of the half. A three from Dykema by way of Thistlewood made it a 20-point game for the first time at 36-16 with just under four minutes to play, but Colorado Christian was able to score the final four points before the break as the half ended with the Orediggers out front 39-21.
 
Thistlewood kicked off the second half with a three from Sullivan as Mines scored seven of the first nine points of the second half to lead 46-23 before Adam Krasovec got in on the action as heconnected on a layup before drilling a corner three in succession to make it a 24-point lead at 53-29 with 13:38 to play.
 
Though CCU was able to close within 16 at 55-39 at the 11:33 mark on a layup from DJ McDonald, that would be the closest they would come for the duration of the night. A floater from Reagan Koch pushed the lead back to 21 after a back-and-forth sequence before Ben Boone converted a three-point play at 6:19 to make it 24 at 68-44.
 
Mines led by at least 21 for the final 6:47 of regulation and had their biggest lead of the night at 26 following a trey from Thistlewood made it 81-55 with 70 seconds to go, and while the Cougars were able to score three in the final minute, Taylor Spurlock wrapped up the scoring matters with some free throws of his own to seal an 83-58 win.
 
NOTABLES
-Thistlewood led the way with a game-high 19 points on 6-11 shooting and was a perfect 5-5 from the free throw line with five boards to surpass the 500 mark in his career and a season-high seven assists
-Dykema dropped a season-high 12 points and finished in double-figures for the second time this season and did so on 4-8 shooting including 2-4 from three with a season-high five rebounds
-Boone surged in the second half and finished with 11 points on 4-7 shooting despite battling foul trouble all night
-Sullivan added 10 points along with three rebounds and two assists while Barr added three blocks and had four rebounds to go with seven points
-Mines shot an even 20% (27-54) in the game and saw 10 different players find the scoring column

LOOKING AHEAD
The Orediggers will close their home campaign Saturday night at 6 p.m. against the Chadron State Eagles at Lockridge Arena. The four seniors on this year's team will recognized in a ceremony before tip-off. A reminder that the game with be broadcast on KWGN Colorado's Own Channel 2.
 
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.