GOLDEN, Colo. – Taking the court at Lockridge Arena for the first time in 2024, the Colorado School of Mines men's basketball team looked to continue their recent run of success as they stepped back into Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference action Saturday afternoon against Colorado Christian. Behind a stifling defensive effort and five double figure scoring performances, the Orediggers (12-3, 6-1) ran their winning streak to eight games with an 88-72 win over the Cougars (6-8, 2-5).
 
Mines jumped out to an early 4-0 lead behind a jumper from Cade Mankle and two free throws from Alex Romack before CCU got on the board and the two teams traded shots in the opening minutes. Majok Deng helped set the tone early, converting another 3-3 trip at the line after being fouled on a corner three attempt to make it 13-8 just over four minutes in, but a three from Shaylen Woodberry and a jumper by Schafer Reichart quickly tied things back up moments later.
 
Mankle briefly puts Mines back in from with a mid-range jumper before CCU tasted the lead for the first time on a three ball from Jacob Everson to make it 16-15. Another make by Everson made it 18-15, but things turned on the Cougars quickly as Krasovec took over with an 8-0 run of his own, started with a transition dunk from Grant Pressly followed by back-to-back treys to swing the score back in favor of Mines at 23-18 with just over 10 minutes before the half.
 
Colorado Christian battled back within three before Juani Dassie drilled a three and a jumper to push the lead back to eight at 28-20 with 8:24 remaining. Though CCU was able to close back within four points in the final six minutes, the Orediggers would have none of it as Reagan Koch and Dassie each hit a three before the break as part of a 9-1 run to make it a 10-point game at 37-27. Following two Sam Beskind free throws and a Nic Zeil three the other way, Krasovec and Mankle played give and go the next three possession for Mines with the big man making a pair of layups while the Texan threw home a two-handed slam to extend the lead to 45-32, but a late three-pointer by Tanner Hecht saw the score after 20 minutes be 45-35 in favor of Mines.
 
Deng kicked off the second half with a three-pointer following two offensive boards for the Orediggers before two Romack free throws pushed the lead out to 15 in the opening two minutes of the second half. Another three from Zeil closed it to 50-38, but that ended up being the closest Colorado Christian got for the remainder of the afternoon. Krasovec, Beskind, Dassie and Markus Pastorcic-Straun were part of a 9-4 run that pushed the lead to 17 following a three from the Argentinian at 13:44 to make it 59-42.
 
Koch flushed home two more treys while Beskind and Riley Schroeder added a jumper and a layup as part of an 11-2 run that pushed the lead north of 20 for the first time at 70-47 halfway through the period. Pastorcic-Straun made it a 24-point lead and the biggest of the night with a jumper after a Bradley Land free throw as the Orediggers kept the Cougars comfortably at bay. Mankle and Deng took care of business from the stripe before calling it a day with under three minutes to play as Mines emptied the bench to finish things out. CCU dialed up some full court pressure against the Orediggers' reserves, but it was a matter of too little, too late as a final three-ball from Dassie and a free throw from Taylor Spurlock iced a convincing performance in front of the home crowd and following one last make by the visitors, the horn sounded on an 88-72 victory.
 
NOTABLES
-Krasovec came off the bench to record his best performance of the season, scoring 15 points to finish two shy of his career high and doing so on 6-10 shooting while just missing out on a double-double with nine rebounds
-Deng backed up his big night Tuesday with 15 points that including an 8-9 day from the free throw line
-Dassie continued his hot streak with 14 points off the bench, going 5-6 from the floor and 4-5 from long range
-Mankle chipped in 12 points on 4-9 shooting and was a perfect 4-4 at the line and now has eight assists with no turnovers in his last three games
-Koch also continued his recent run of success, turning in his best day of the season with 10 points and went 3-3 from deep with three rebounds, a block and a steal
-Beskind went for six points, eight rebounds and tied his career-high with three blocks, but more importantly his two assists moved him north of the 200 mark in his collegiate career between his time at Mines and Stanford
-Romack overcame foul trouble to end the night with nine points and six rebounds with a blocks
-Mines has now won 17 straight meetings against CCU to improve to 20-7 at home and 39-13 all-time in the series
-Head coach Pryor Orser now has 433 career wins and 306 wins in RMAC action, moving closer to still to legendary Fort Lewis and Western Colorado coach Bob Hofman with 443 overall wins and 309 conference wins in the league record books
 
UP NEXT
Mines returns to the road next weekend when they take on CSU Pueblo and New Mexico Highlands on Friday and Saturday evenings.

Fans can keep up with Mines men's basketball on X and Instagram at @minesmbb. They can also keep up with Colorado School of Mines Athletics all year long on Facebook, X and Instagram using the handle @MinesAthletics.