GOLDEN, Colo. – The #10/11 Colorado School of Mines men's basketball team started their weekend a few days later than usual Saturday afternoon at Lockridge Arena as they resumed Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference play against Colorado Mesa. Though both teams struggled mightily shooting in the first half, it was the Orediggers (7-1, 3-0) who finished the night strong, dominating the glass and shooting better than 50% in the second half to snap a two-game skid against the Mavericks (4-6, 0-4) and remain unbeaten in RMAC play by a final of 65-58.
 
Will Mortimore scored the first points of the night for CMU followed by a Riley Schroeder corner three as the lead changed hands five times in the opening four minutes and six times over the first six minutes as it seemed like it might be a back-and-forth kind of contest.
 
The kind of contest the game ended up being, at least in the early going, was one where both teams struggled to put the ball through the hoop. Following another corner three from Schroeder that put Mines ahead 10-8 with 14:31 on the clock, the Orediggers and Mavericks combined to go 0-10 with four turnovers until Markus Pastorcic-Straun laid one up and in at 10:30 to make it 12-10 Mines following two CMU free throws.
 
Harvey white tied the game at 12 with a layup 20 seconds later before Yaak Yaak gave the Mavericks the lead back with consecutive buckets with a Jonathan Moore dunk in between before another combined shooting slump last almost another two minutes of game action. CMU pushed their lead to six after a 1-2 trip to the line by Mason Honeyman that saw the visitors corral the rebound after a miss on the second shot, leading to a wing three from Austin Thyne that made it 20-14.
 
Alex Romack scored the next four on a layup and a rim-rocking dunk before Reagan Koch buried a corner three in front of the CMU bench to retake the lead 21-20 with 4:27 before the break. A Schroeder mid-range jumper and a second three-ball from Koch capped an 11-0 run to make it a six-point Mines lead, but the Mavericks scored the final five of the half to cut it to a one-point lead at 26-25 heading to halftime.
 
Colorado Mesa continued their run coming out of the intermission as a steal and score by Honeyman preceded another steal and a three by White to make it 30-26. CMU held the lead until 16:20 when Majok Deng finally connected on a long corner three on a bullet pass from Moore before Grant Pressly dialed up a steal-and-score of his own to retake the lead 36-34.
 
Over the next two minutes, the lead changed hands a further four times with a trey from Juani Dassie completing the back-and-forth sequence at the 13:40 mark. Christopher Speller's layup on the next possession tied the game momentarily for the Mavs, but the Orediggers retook the lead for good on their next trip thanks to a mid-range jumper by Deng that made it 44-42 with 12:54 on the clock. A pair of dunks from Romack and Moore along with a Pressly layup pushed the lead as high as eight as more shooting woes plagued Colorado Mesa and allowed for some separation.
 
The lead stayed between six and eight points until Ty Allred went on a 5-0 run all by himself capped by a traditional three-point play with 7:18 to play to cut the lead to 52-49, but Mines answered back with another two-handed slam by Romack on the other end. The night's long shooting struggles remained omnipresent down the stretch, though Mines managed to make shots when they needed them whereas Colorado Mesa didn't.
 
Although a Jaylen Pitman layup with 4:11 left made it a 55-53 game, a pair of clutch three-pointers from Cade Mankle and Dassie helped rebuild the lead to 61-55 in the final three minutes. Romack and Deng closed out the scoring for Mines and while CMU did net a late make, they finished the afternoon just 1-5 shooting and that wasn't enough in a gritty contest that ended with a 65-58 Mines victory.  
 
NOTABLES
-Deng finished tied for a game-high 13 points and added four rebounds
-Schroeder finished with 10 points, two steals, two rebounds, a block and an assist
-Romack added 10 off the bench on 5-10 shooting with seven rebounds, two assists and two blocks
-Dassie chipped in nine on 3-6 shooting, all from downtown
-Mankle flirted with a double-double as he ended the night with seven points and eight rebounds
-Moore showed off his bounce with some spectacular dunks as he ended with six points on 3-4 shooting with two dimes, two rebounds and a steal
-Koch also went for six on 2-4 shooting from deep with two boards, two assists and a steal of his own
-Pressly had another big day with a career-best eight assists and five rebounds while also scoring four points with a block and a steal
-Silas McCurnin played a season-high seven minutes in the opening half
-Defensively Mines held CMU to just 16.7% (2-12) from long range
-17 of Mines' 42 rebounds in the game came on the offensive glass, their most in a game since the RMAC quarterfinals against Regis back on March 5
-The Orediggers overcome a rough night shooting in the first half to shoot 51.7% (15-29) from the floor and 42.6% (6-13) from three-point land over the final 20 minutes
-The #21 jersey has made an appearance for Mines in each of the last two games, as Mankle and Schroeder have both had to make mid-game wardrobe changes
 
UP NEXT
Mines wraps up week two of conference action Monday at 3 p.m. against Westminster at Lockridge Arena.

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.