SPEARFISH, S.D. – Taking on their second Top 10 opponent in as many weeks, the #10/13 Colorado School of Mines men's basketball team returned to the road Friday night to take on Black Hills State. Despite shooting better than 48% in the first half, BHSU connected on 61% of their shots in the half and shot 52% for the game as they took the win by a final score of 85-66.
 
Despite leading by six in the opening minutes of the night, the Orediggers (19-3, 13-3) couldn't keep up with the torrid shooting performance by the Yellow Jackets (19-1, 13-1) over the first 20 minutes, and despite battling back on several occasions, second half shooting struggles didn't lend themselves to a comeback attempt to open the weekend.
 
The night began with a Matthew Ragsdale three to open the scoring before Sam Beskind got Mines on the board two possessions later with a trey of his own off an offensive board from Brendan Sullivan to draw back even before Beskind put Mines ahead for the first time with his second three on the next trip down the floor.
 
A driving layup by Sullivan at 17:13 was good and the ensuing free throw found the net as well as the old-fashioned three-point play made it 9-3 Orediggers before Ragsdale drained consecutive triples to draw back even. Another layup by Beskind briefly put Mines back out front before BHSU regained the lead with the next four points at 13-11 with 15:06 to play.
 
Ben Boone knotted things back up at 13 but it didn't stay that way long as an 11-1 run by the Yellow Jackets made it 24-14 with 12:22 to play. A jumper from Cade Mankle broke things up but it remained a double-digit lead by as much as 13 at one point before a layup by Boone at 9:56 cut the gap back to 29-20. Four-straight points from Kai Barr closed the gap further to 29-24 with 7:09 to play but BHSU was able to maintain their lead and push with back to 12 with just under four minutes to play in the half.
 
Once again Mines was able to get back within eight at 43-35 on a layup from Beskind with 1:47 left.  After the team traded jumpers, Joel Scott hit two free throws in the closing moments to make it 47-37 heading to the intermission.
 
Two free throws from Thistlewood to open the second half made it an eight-point game at 47-39 as Mines looked to battle back once again, but a comeback bid was not in the cards as BHSU pushed the lead back up to 12 on their next two possessions and didn't look back.
 
Thistlewood and Schroeder were able to keep the Orediggers within 11 after they both connected on layups in the first four minutes of the half, but it wasn't enough as the Yellow Jackets carried their hot shooting from the first half into the final frame of the night.
 
Reagan Koch hit a jumper at the 11:51 mark to make it 63-50 as Mines kept fighting despite some tough luck shooting in the second half.  The deficit remained in double-digits for the remaining balance of the action and despite Trent Dykema scoring three of the final five points of the game, Black Hills State took the win 85-66.
 
NOTABLES
-Barr and Thistlewood both led the Orediggers with 11 points and both nearly recorded double-doubles, finishing with nine and eight rebounds respectively
-Beskind and Boone also finished in double digits with 10 points each and had four rebounds between them
-Sullivan added eight point and two rebounds while Mankle finished with six points
-Nine different players scored in the game for Mines

LOOKING AHEAD
The Orediggers will take on South Dakota Mines at 6 p.m. Saturday night before returning to Golden Friday night February 10 to take on Colorado Mesa.
 
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.