GOLDEN, Colo. – The #15/21 Colorado School of Mines men's basketball team showed no signs of rust from their extended time off Tuesday night as they romped to a 107-67 win over UCCS in non-conference action. The Orediggers (4-1) shot better than 61% in the second half on their way to a 57% night from the floor and were just as proficient from three-point range and the free throw line while the defense generated 13 steals and held the Mountain Lions (4-2) to just 36.5% shooting in the winning effort.
 
Xavier Martinez started the night with a wing three-pointer for UCCS but that didn't last long as Cade Mankle kicked off an 11-0 run with a pair of jumpers sandwiched around a Majok Deng corner three. Jonathan Moore and Alex Romack got in on the action as well as the lead quickly moved to eight with 15:28 in the half. The lead only grew from there as Romack kept working, first with a tip-in bucket followed by the first collegiate three-pointer. Markous Pastorcic-Straun kept things rolling with a layup inside to push it to 18-5 nearing the 12-minute mark.
 
The Mountain Lions battled back around the midway point of the half as they trimmed to gap down to eight following a three-point play on a dunk and free throw by William Becker to make it 21-13, but Deng scored the next five on a trey and two free throws to quickly push the lead back to 14.
 
The lead hovered around a dozen for the next four or so minutes until the Orediggers went on a 12-3 run highlighted by three-pointers from Jonathan Moore and Riley Schroeder that included several trips to the free throw line as the lead moved to 21 at 43-22 in the closing minutes of the period. UCCS scored the final five before the break but after 20 minutes it was all Mines at 43-26.
 
Neither team missed a field goal for nearly four minutes to open the final frame of the night as while UCCS was finally starting to see shots go down, they weren't enough to match the pace of the Orediggers. Back-to-back treys from Mankle and Deng highlighted an stretch to open the half in which the Silver and Blue outscored the visitors 19-7 to open the lead up to 29 at 62-33 by the under 16 media timeout.
 
Grant Pressly's offensive rebound and pass to Deng at 13:38 resulted in another three ball and the lead hitting 30 for the first time at 66-37. Caleb Clark joined the fun around the 12-minute mark with a three-pointer with help from Moore before Reagan Koch did some work inside with a tip-in bucket to make it 76-40 with 11:19 to play.
 
The lead never dwindled lower than 31 for the balance of the night and hit 40 with 4:26 left on a conventional three-point play by Pastorcic-Straun before he checked out for the night. Mines kept their foot on the gas down the stretch as Koch, Juani Dassie and Dom Girish all lit it up from downtown to peak the lead at 45 with 69 seconds left. While UCCS did score seven of the night's final nine points, it did little than make a dent in the scoreboard at Mines returned to action in style with a 107-67 win.
               
NOTABLES
-Deng led all scorers with 24 points on 9-15 shooting including 4-5 from downtown and added three rebounds
-Schroeder went for 15 on 7-15 shooting with three rebounds, three assists and a block
-Koch finished one point shy of tying his career high in scoring as he went for 13 off the bench on 4-7 shooting including 3-4 from downtown with four boards, four dimes, two steals and a block in a stat-stuffing night as he passed 150 career rebounds in the win
-Romack also went for 13 off the bench on 3-5 shooting and was a perfect 6-6 on free throws while hauling in seven rebounds and pocketing two steals as he now has 250 boards in his young career
-Mankle chipped in nine on 4-6 shooting with two steals, two assists and two rebounds
-Pastorcic-Straun also ended the night with nine as he battled foul trouble to finished 4-5 shooting and 2-2 at the stripe with four rebounds and three assists
-Pressly made his second-consecutive start and recorded a career-high nine rebounds while dishing out five assists
-Derek Lamb scored the first points of his collegiate career late in the second half
-12 different players scored in the contest for Mines out of 14 who checked in
-Mines scored 26 points off turnovers and got 51 points from their bench in the contest
-The Orediggers tied their season-high field goal percentage of .574 (39-68) while shooting a season-best .481 (13-27) from three-point land as well as the free throw line at .889 (16-18)
-The 107 points scored in the win in the most in a game against UCCS all-time and is the first 100-point performance against the Mountain Lions
 
UP NEXT
Mines opens RMAC play next weekend on the road at Adams State and New Mexico Highlands on December 5 & 7.

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.