GOLDEN, Colo. – Looking to atone for an opening night setback against their second Lone Star Conference opponent of the weekend, the eighth-ranked Colorado School of Mines men's basketball team took the court against St. Mary's (TX) Saturday looking to secure their first win of the season. The Orediggers (1-1) had a battle on their hands as they found themselves trailing for most of the first half against the Rattlers (1-1), but a late surge before the break shifted momentum in their favor, taking the lead and pulling away in the second half on their way to an 83-63 victory.
 
Mines found themselves trailing through the first three minutes of the night before briefly taking a 7-5 lead on a quick 4-0 burst from Majok Deng and Alex Romack at the 16:33 mark. That lead was short-lived as Lachlan Bofinger scored the next four for St. Mary's to regain the lead as part of a 6-0 run. The Rattlers' lead grew to as much as nine following a dunk from Damani Claxton in transition to make it 18-9 with 14:07 to play.
 
The Orediggers started to chip away at the deficit, getting a pair of three-pointers from Adam Krasovec and Juani Dassie to make it 23-20 around the halfway mark of the period. The Rattlers managed to push the edge back to six and maintain at least a one-point lead all the way until the minutes of the opening period. After a series of four free throws for St. Mary's following a questionable shooting foul called against Grant Pressly that drew such ire from head coach Pryor Orser that he was assessed a technical foul, Mines went on a 12-0 run that turned the game on its head and included back-to-back-to-back treys from Deng and Dassie that made it 42-34 with 1:12 before the intermission.
 
Wayne Wiggins stopped the bleeding with a steal and score layup in the final minute before Krasovec got the bucket back with a mid-range jumper for Mines to take a 44-36 lead to the locker room.
 
Coming out to start the second half, the Orediggers' lead hit double-digits for the first time thanks to four straight points from Alex Romack to make it 48-38. St. Mary's did their best to keep it close as play resumed with a three ball from Eddie McPhee making it a six-point game with 53-47 with 10 minutes left, but an 8-0 run from Mines including a pair of treys from Deng and a dandy of a layup high off the glass by Cade Mankle off a steal from Markus Pastorcic-Straun pushed the advantage to 14 at 61-47 with just under 14 minutes to play.
 
Mines continued to add onto their lead as the Rattlers started pressing the issue trying to climb back into the game, but miss after miss repeatedly turned into points on the other end as an 8-0 run saw the lead swell to 23 at 77-54 with just over four minutes to play.
 
With time as an ally, Mines was able to coast home the final four minutes of the night as a dunk from Pastorcic-Straun off a Krasovec steal capped off the scoring for the home team. A late flurry by St. Mary's off some turnovers in the final minute did little than make a dent in the lead as the horn sounded on a 83-63 win for the Orediggers.
               
NOTABLES
-Dassie dropped a game-high 20 off the bench, going 7-11 from the floor and 5-8 from three-point land with three boards and two steals
-Deng netted 19 on 6-9 shooting that including 3-5 from three while also going 4-5 from the line and adding seven boards, three steals, two assists and a block
-Krasovec had another good night off the bench, going for 11 on 5-6 shooting with five boards and two blocks
-Romack finished in double figures for the first time this season with 10 points on 4-5 shooting and 2-3 from the line with three boards
-Nine different players scored in the game for Mines as the balanced attack seen Friday continued into Saturday
-Mankle finished with five assists for the second night in a row and added five boards of his own
-Koch and Pastorcic-Straun each finished the night with eight points and a steal while combining for five assists
-The Orediggers shot .574 from the floor and .450 from long range while going .750 at the charity stripe
 
UP NEXT
Two more Texas opponents await next weekend as Mines hits the road to take on UT Tyler and UT Dallas November 15 and 16 at 5 p.m. CT and 3 p.m. CT respectively.

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.