GOLDEN, Colo. – Playing at Lockridge Arena one final time in the regular season and looking to carry momentum into the conference tournament, the #16/21 Colorado School of Mines men's basketball team lined up opposite the second-ranked team in the region in #2/6 Fort Lewis. It was a highly competitive and highly physical contest with momentum swings on both sides that felt much closer than the three ties and two total lead changes, but in the end it was the Orediggers (23-7, 17-5) who came out on top over the Skyhawks (25-3, 20-2), getting double-digit nights from four players and turning in one of their finer defensive performances of the year in a 70-65 win.
 
After a trio of missed three-pointers to begin the night, Majok Deng and Sam Beskind started the scoring with a bang, as Beskind picked the pocket of Jhei-R Jones before lobbing one up to Deng for a two-handed slam to bring the crowd to their feet. The Pepperdine transfer buried a three on the next possession before Cade Mankle hit a runner inside to make it 7-0 Mines less than three minutes in. Fort Lewis showed why they earned their number two ranking, locking down on defense and going on an 8-2 run to close back to within one at 9-8.
 
Riley Schroeder and Junior Garbrah traded three-pointers before Deng got fouled on a three-point try and converted all three shots from the stripe to make it 15-11 before FLC tied it and took the lead for the first time on a 9-0 run to make it 20-15 with 8:10 before the break. The Skyhawks managed to hold their advantage despite the efforts of Schroeder and Mankle for the next three minutes as a Samier Kinsler three made it 25-20 with 5:15 in the half.
 
Adam Krasovec kicked off a 10-0 run with a layup as Sam Beskind added two from the stripe and Deng buried back-to-back treys to cap it and flip the score back in favor of the Orediggers at 30-25, but was issued a flopping technical on the second that allowed Fort Lewis to convert a free throw on the other end before coming away with the second of two steals in a frenetic sequence that saw them close back within a pair at 30-28. Krasovec helped answer the call again on the next possession for Mines, finding nothing by nylon from downtown on a three to push the lead back to five inside two minutes. Fort Lewis scored four of the final six points of the half capped with a dunk by Malik Whitaker to trim the Mines lead to 35-32 heading to halftime.
 
Sekou Dembele scored the first points of the second for Fort Lewis to make it a one-point game before a layup and two free throws from Deng allowed for some slight breathing room at 39-34. Obi Agbim and Garbrah went back-to-back with a three and a layup to draw back even at 39 and again at 41 following a putback make by Schroeder, but the big man from California drained a three on the next possession to regain the advantage at 44-41 with 13:28 to play.
 
A Skyhawks layup by Amondo Miller, Jr. again made it a one-point game, but Reagan Koch came through with a corner three followed by a second-chance make by Dassie to stretch the lead to six at 49-43. Mines managed to keep the visitors at around a three-to-five-point margin over the following minutes before a quick 7-0 spurt started by a three-point play by Dassie with makes from Mankle and Krasovec gave the Orediggers their largest lead of the night at 57-47 with 6:31 to play.
The junior from Hungary answered a layup from Jones with his second three of the night to make it an 11-point lead inside five to play before Alex Romack made it 62-49 with a hard-earned bucket off a missed free throw in heavy traffic inside. Leading by a dozen, the crowd at Lockridge Arena came to their feet to back the Orediggers, but excitement turned to nervous tension as Fort Lewis battled back as Brayden Carter scored the next six points in the game to close the gap back to seven with 2:42 left.
 
In a game as close as this one, the foul count in the second half caught up with both teams as they each headed to the line down the stretch with chances to swing the score and momentum. Obi Agbim made a pair and after a 1-2 trip by Beskind hit a jumper to cut the gap to six at 65-59 at the 1:41 mark. Mines had their hands full all night with the full court pressure on inbounds situations applied by the Skyhawks, but managed to stave off some late turnovers by playing hard-nosed defense resulting in uncomfortable shot selection for the visitors.
 
Inside the final minute, Beskind drained a pair to make it an eight-point game, but consecutive three-pointers from Garbrah raised the tension to an all-time high making it a two-point game with 35 seconds left at 67-65. Mines managed to break the press on the ensuing inbounds as Mankle ended up with the ball inside, connecting on a driving layup from the left side to all but ice things and make it a four-point game with 17 seconds left. A missed three on the other end by Fort Lewis ended up in the hands of Markus Pastorcic-Straun who dumped it off to Beskind and drew a quick foul. A 1-2 trip saw the clock start on the miss as a last-ditch three on the other end by Samier Kinsler came out short with the rebound coming out to Mines who cleared the ball back the other way as time expired on a thrilling 70-65 win in a battle of Top 25 opponents and two of the top five teams in this week's NCAA South Central Regional rankings.
 
                                         
NOTABLES
-Deng was one of four Orediggers in double-digits and scored a game-high 18 points and was a perfect 5-5 at the free throw line with three rebounds, an assist and a steal
-Mankle went for 13 on 6-13 shooting with two rebounds, two assists and a steal
-Schroeder and Krasovec each finished the night with 10 points with the former going 4-6 from the floor and 2-4 from three with seven rebounds, an assist and a steal with the latter going 4-5 overall and 2-2 from deep also with seven boards and an assist
-Beskind filled up the stat sheet in his final regular season home game, scoring seven points all at the free throw line with seven assists, five boards and a block
-Defensively Mines forced 15 Fort Lewis turnovers and collected six steals while holding the Skyhawks to just 36.5% (23-63) shooting in the game and 25% (6-24) from long range
-Comparatively, on offense the Orediggers shot 42.9% (24-56) for the game and were +3 in the turnover battle
-The Orediggers snapped a two-game losing streak in the series, improving to 21-23 at home all-time and winning in Golden for the first time since December of 2020
 
UP NEXT
The Orediggers earned the third seed in the 2024 edition of the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference men's basketball championship as they'll host quarterfinal action Tuesday at 7 p.m. at Lockridge Arena against sixth-seeded Regis. Additional information will available at mineathletics.com.

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.