BILLINGS, Mont. – Looking to end the weekend on a high note, the #10 Colorado School of Mines men's basketball team took the court one final time at the D2CCA Tipoff Classic at The Trailhead Sunday morning against regional rival Angelo State. Despite a double-double from Alex Romack and strong performances from Will Essman and Markus Pastorcic-Straun, the Orediggers (0-3) came up short in the final minutes as the Rams rallied late for a 74-66 win.
 
Will Cordonnier had Mines out front for the first four minutes in his first collegiate start before Angelo State took the lead on a 12-0 run that made it 13-8 at the 14:47 mark. Alex Romack and Pastorcic-Straun helped keep it close before an 8-0 run by the Rams swelled their lead to nine at 23-14 with under eight minutes to play. Shelton Henton briefly cut it to a one-point lead at 35-34 with 2:37 to play before a 1-2 trip to the line from Pastorcic-Straun tied things up, but ASU scored the final four of the half to lead by five at the break.
 
Coming out of the locker room, a renewed effort from the Orediggers saw the deficit quickly trimmed to one thanks to Romack from the line as he made it 41-40 just inside 16 minutes to play. Pastorcic-Straun and Cordonnier paraded to the line the next three minutes and went 6-6 before freshman Will Essman hit a three at 12:14 to regain the lead 49-48. Freshman Cooper Mroczek scored his first point from the line to extend the lead to three before Kailon Nicholls tied things with a three-pointer of his own at 11:06.
 
Mines managed to regain the lead and maintain it as the clock wound inside the five-minute mark. A timely three from Shelton Henton made it a 61-58 game after Quadir Pettaway tied the game on the previous possession. After a 3-3 trip to the line by Pettaway tied things once more, Jaqai Murray retook the lead for ASU on a tip-in off a Jordan Crawford miss. The Orediggers scored the next three to briefly retake a 64-63 lead, but a three-point play by Murray put Angelo State ahead for good with 3:02 to play. ASU ended the game on a 11-2 run as Mines did their best to rally in the closing minutes but came up short once more in a closely contested 74-66 matchup.
 
NOTABLES
-Pastorcic-Straun led the way once more with 19 points on 6-12 shooting along with five rebounds and five assists; he ends the weekend averaging 24.3 PPG on .558 shooting with 16 assists and 16 rebounds and was named to the All-Tournament Team
-Romack posted his second double-double of the season with 13 points and 13 rebounds; he closes things out averaging 13.7 PPG and 9.7 RPG
-Essmann ended with 11 points in his first career start and just missed a double-double with eight boards as he ends the weekend averaging 9.0 PPG and 5.5 RPG
-Henton finished with nine points on 3-6 shooting from downtown with three boards and two dimes
-Cordonnier went for seven points with four rebounds and two assists with a steal in his first career start; the second-year freshman out of Ohio is fourth in scoring average at 9.3 PPG
-Minter pulled in seven rebounds
-Mroczek scored the first points of his career, ending with two points from the free throw line to go with three rebounds and two assists
-Mines struggled from the three-point line, going just 7-23 in the game and 2-12 in the second half
-The Orediggers pulled down a season-high 47 rebounds in the game
 
UP NEXT
Regional crossover action awaits Mines in the Lone Star State next weekend as they travel to #25 Lubbock Christian and #RV St. Mary's November 14 and 16.

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.