GOLDEN, Colo. – Playing at Lockridge Arena for the final time in the regular season with postseason seeding on the line, the #19/25 Colorado School of Mines men's basketball team lined up opposite Chadron State Saturday night and was able to send out this year's seniors on a high note, hanging on to win a thriller by a final score of 78-74.
 
After the four seniors on this year's club, Adam Thistlewood, Trent Dykema, Ben Boone and Brendan Sullivan, were honored in a pregame ceremony, Sullivan put the Orediggers (22-4, 16-4) on his back over the final 20 minutes, scoring 18 points in the second half while the defense forced eight turnovers and registered 10 blocks against the Eagles (17-9, 14-6) to extend their winning streak to 27 games in the series.
 
The evening opened with a 7-0 Chadron State run before Kai Barr got Mines on the board with a putback layup at 17:41. The Eagles continued to lead as the Orediggers worked to get back within reach, as another Barr layup and back-to-back jumpers from Boone closed the gap to 11-10 with 13:57 left in the half.
 
The Eagles answered that 6-0 run with a 9-0 run of their own to make it a 20-10 game following a jumper from Josh Robinson with a little over 10 minutes before the break. Once again, Mines rallied by scoring eight straight points from 9:51 to 7:39 courtesy of Riley Schroeder and Sullivan to again close to within one at 21-20. CSC continued to cling to their lead until Schroeder completed a three-point play before Sullivan swatted a three-point try on Isaiah Wyatt and connecting on a transition jumper from Reagan Koch to take the lead at 27-26 with 5:53 on the clock.
 
After a sequence that saw the score draw back even at 27 and 29, Barr and Sam Beskind teamed up to score the final six points of the half for Mines as part of a 13-3 run to the intermission to regain the lead 35-29.
 
Barr kicked the second half off with a couple of dunks but Chadron State scored a quick 10 points of their own to once again tie the game at 39 on a three from Marcus Jefferson at the 17:04 mark before retaking the lead on a Josh Robinson free throw. The two sides then battled it out for the next nine minutes with the lead changing hands four times, including twice on three-pointers from Sullivan before he ultimately puts the Orediggers back up for good at 59-57 with 7:14 in regulation after converting a 3-3 trip to the stripe.
 
Schroeder, Thistlewood and Sullivan scored the next six to stretch the lead to eight with 5:38 to play before CSC was able to close back within three to 65-62 after a pair of free throws from Bryce Latimer. Mines was able to re-establish an eight-point cushion following a trey from Beskind at 2:26 that made it 72-64 but once again the Eagles closed the gap, this time to two after Latimer laid one in with 70 second to play.
 
Down a pair, Chadron State tried to extend the game by fouling Mines, but had only been whistled for two fouls in the half entering the final minute and had to find a way to send the Orediggers to the line in a hurry managing to get to six fouls before Sullivan broke lose on an inbounds pass from Beskind for a layup to make it 74-70 with 17 seconds remaining. Marcus Jefferson drew a foul on a three-point try and went to the line but was missed the first of three shots before making the next two to again make it a two-point game. Boone was the next Oredigger to get fouled as Chadron State finally made it to the bonus with nine seconds left and converted both free throws to make it 76-72. Robinson took the ensuing inbounds past and raced down the court for a layup, but another foul, this time on Beskind, resulted in two more makes from the stripe for Mines as a long-range heave from Latimer missed the mark at the buzzer as the Orediggers collected the 78-74 win.
 
NOTABLES
-Sullivan logged his fifth 20-point game of the season, as he went for 24 points and finished the night 9-13 shooting and 3-5 from three with two rebounds and three blocks
-Barr also had three blocks for the second game in a row and scored 12 points on 5-10 hooting with six rebounds and two assists
-Barr has also now more than doubled his block total from the last two seasons, totaling 28 in that span as he now has 30 this season
-Beskind and Schroeder both came off the bench to score 11 and combined to shoot 8-13 from the floor with seven boards and six assists between them
-Boone and Thistlewood each finished with eight points and a block while going 3-7 and 4-5 in the game respectively
-Boone's block was his eighth of the season, as he has now equaled his total from each of the last three seasons
-Mines recorded 10 blocks in the game as five different players had at least one, marking the second game this season with at least that many (11 vs. CSU Pueblo 1/6/23)

LOOKING AHEAD
Two games remain in the regular season for the Orediggers as they'll hit the road for the return trips to Adams State and Fort Lewis next Friday and Saturday with start times of 7 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. in Alamosa and Durango.
 
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.