GOLDEN, Colo. – Starting the postseason off at home Tuesday night, the #21/RV Colorado School of Mines men's basketball team looked to punch their ticket to the semifinals against a familiar opponent as they took the court against Regis for the third time this season and second within the walls of Lockridge Arena. The Orediggers (24-7) scored first and never looked back over the course of 40 minutes, and while the Rangers (15-14) did make it close at times, they couldn't keep up in the second half as Mines rolled to a 90-71 win.
 
Alex Romack got the night going for the Orediggers, scoring four of the first nine points along with a three from Sam Beskind and two free throws from Majok Deng to lead 9-1 three minutes in. A jumper by Mankle and two more treys from Beskind and Deng made it 17-2 at 14:26 as it looked like Mines might just run Regis out of the building. To the Rangers' credit, they fought their way back into contention, stringing together a 9-0 run to make it a six-point game with 11:05 to play trailing 17-11.
 
A dunk from Markus Pastorcic-Straun broke things up but answered right back on the other end on a Trey Bryant jumper before Juani Dassie and Tarig Eisa traded three-pointers as it remained a six-point game. Olafur Stymisson's three cut the Orediggers' lead to four at 23-19 with 4:17 to play as Reagan Koch dialed up a three of his own going back the other way two possessions later before Adam Krasovec posted up inside for a layup to make it 28-19 with under seven before the break.
 
Back-to-back three-pointers from Chase Mayo Harmon and Jalen Brown quickly erased the lead and made it a three-point game with just over five minutes to go before a jumper from Vojin Mastilovic got Regis as close as they had been all night at 29-27 at the 3:43 mark. Riley Schroeder and Mayo Harmon swapped three balls as the teams matched each other score for score down the stretch in the half before an 8-0 Mines run highlighted by a Romack slam pushed the lead back to 10 with a minute to go. The teams combined to make the final three shots of the half, the final being a three before the horn from Mastilovic to trim the gap to 44-37 going to the break.
 
Coming out to start the second half, Romack threw down his second dunk of the night from Sam Beskind to get Mines off and running. Some missed shots and turnovers allowed Regis to again claw their way back into the thick of things with a jumper by Eisa making it a two-point game against at 48-46 with 16 minutes left. The Orediggers managed to fend off the surge and maintain the lead but weren't able to stretch it to more than five until two free throws from Romack at 13:11 made it 60-53. The Rangers answered with a layup and a jumper by Ty Cox sandwiched around a steal and score dunk by Beskind to keep it a two-possession game before Koch and Juani Dassie went back-to-back-to-back on three-pointers to ignite the home crowd and quickly run the lead back to 12 at 71-59 with 9:58 left.
 
From that point on, the lead never dropped below 10 as the Mines defense dug in. Eddy Egun and Mayo Harmon did their best to keep Regis close, but a procession to the free throw line by the Orediggers allowed them to maintain a comfortable margin. Cade Mankle hit a floater with 4:15 left to make it a 15-point game as the lead worked its way to 17 at 88-71 with 84 seconds to go following a jumper by Schroeder. One final basket by Mankle all but iced things as Eisa missed a final layup for the Rangers with the rebound going to Caleb Clark who dribbled out the clock to close out a 90-71 win for Mines and advance to the RMAC semifinals.
               
NOTABLES
-Romack posted his sixth double-double of the season, scoring 17 points on 6-10 from the floor and 5-6 at the line while hauling in 11 rebounds with an assist
-Deng also went for 17 in the game that included a 2-4 night from deep and 9-10 at the line with two rebounds and an assist
-Koch scored 12 off the bench, going 3-4 from downtown and 3-4 from the line with a rebound, a block and an assist
-Schroeder chipped in 11 on 2-3 shooting and 6-6 at the line with two boards and a steal
-Beskind finished two rebounds shy of a double-double of his own with eight while scoring 10 points with five assists and a season-high four steals
-Dassie added nine off the bench, going 3-4 from deep and now has 39 three-pointers this season
-Mankle scored eight on 3-7 shooting with four rebounds and two assists
-Mines shot 52.4% (11-21) from long range in the game and 44.1% (26-59) overall while going 84.4% (27-32) at the free throw line, their most makes and attempts in almost a month
 
UP NEXT
Mines will head to Grand Junction and back to Brownson Arena for a semifinal meeting that will be a rematch of last season's tournament title game against #6/8 Fort Lewis at a time to be announced on Friday March 8.

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.