GOLDEN, Colo. – The Colorado School of Mines men's basketball team opened the defense of the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference title Thursday night with a 97-87 win over Adams State at Lockridge Arena. After leading by as much as 23 in the opening frame, the Orediggers (3-6, 1-0) withstood a second half rally by the Grizzlies (5-3, 0-1) that saw them outscored by 11 points over the final 20 minutes, but a monster 29-point night by Markus Pastorcic-Straun along with double digit outings from Jonathan Moore, Alex Romack and Shelton Henton helped weather the storm and open league play with a win.
 
A trio of lead changes in the opening 1:26 saw Adams State ahead 5-3 before the Orediggers uncorked a 14-0 run fueled by four three-pointers from Pastorcic-Straun, Moore and Henton before Romack capped off the run with a layup to a take a 17-5 lead at the 16-minute mark. Though ASU did briefly get back within eight following a Luke Williams layup at 13:51 to make it 19-11, an 11-2 run swelled the lead to 31-13 as Braydon Jacob and Will Cordonnier joined the three-party to nearly blow the roof off the building thanks to the home crowd. The lead eclipsed 20 for the first time with a put-back layup by Johnson that made it 38-17 with just over seven minutes in the half. Adams State managed to battle back to within 15 after a jumper by Ivan Dorn Jr. at 4:21 that made it 41-26, but back-to-back treys from Henton and Cooper Mroczek along with a transition layup from Jacob made it 49-26 inside three minutes as the first half lead peaked at 23. The Grizzlies scored seven of the final 12 points heading to the break as it was all Mines through 20 minutes at 54-33.
 
Coming out to start the second half, Adams state quickly trimmed the gap down to 14 in the first three minutes at 57-43 thanks to a 10-3 run led by Dillan Baker and Luke Williams. A tip-in bucket by Romack was a rock that broke the wave as the Orediggers looked to steady themselves and maintain their lead. The separation remained between 12 and 16 as the Grizzlies continued to hang around before a quick 7-2 sequence from 7:43 to 6:42 saw them close to within eight at 74-66 following a Wyatt Helming layup. The junior trio of Pastorcic-Straun, Romack and Moore helped build the lead back to double figures as ASU, which averaged 45.3 PPG in the second half entering play Thursday, refused to go away. After a 5-0 run by Mines made it 85-72 with 3:09 to play, Adams State came back with a 7-0 run to make it 85-79 as the tension filled the arena. The sprint to the finish was a thrilling one, as the Mines defense managed to dig in their heels to force turnovers and contested shots while Moore and Henton helped close things out at the free throw line to secure the 97-87 win.
 
NOTABLES
-Pastorcic-Straun led all scorers with 29 points behind 11-17 shooting including 3-4 from three-point land with five assists and four rebounds
-Moore made his home debut Thursday and ended with 14 points thanks to 3-6 shooting including a pair of three-pointers and was clutch down the stretch as helped ice the win with a 6-6 night from the stripe while also pulling down nine rebounds and tying his career high with three blocked shots
-Romack also ended with 14 on 6-12 shooting with all five of his rebounds being of the offensive variety as he also came up with four assists and three steals
-Henton continued his strong play with his third straight double figure outing, finishing with 12 in his first home start while pulling down five rebounds and pocketing two steals
-Jacob had his best night of the season, scoring nine off the bench with four rebounds, two dimes and a steal
-Johnson was consistent across the board, going for eight points with four rebounds, two assists, two blocks and two steals
-Mines recorded a season-high 11 steals and recorded their second-best block total of the year with five
-The Orediggers had their best three-point night of the season, shooting 11-24 (.458) including a 10-15 start to the night in the first half
-Mines also hauled in 44 rebounds as a team including 16 on the offensive glass leading to 19 second-chance points
 
UP NEXT
Mines hosts New Mexico Highlands Saturday at 3 p.m.

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.