DENVER, Colo. – Playing their lone Tuesday night action of the season, the #7/10 Colorado School of Mines men's basketball team took the court at the Auraria Events Center for a primetime matchup against MSU Denver in a battle of two of the top teams in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference this season. In another classic battle, the Orediggers (22-3, 16-1) were fueled by a trio of double-figure performances headlined by Markus Pastorcic-Straun as they completed the season sweep of the Roadrunners (18-7, 12-5) 66-61.
 
MSU Denver's big men imposed their will early in the action as Caleb McGill scored the first six points before Brayden Carter made it 8-2. Cade Mankle kept it close with a three-pointer on his first shot of the night and after a Quave Propst-Allison trey made it a six-point Roadrunner lead, the Orediggers went on an 8-0 run with the sophomore duo of Jonathan Moore and Markus Pastorcic-Straun with the duo capping the sequence by way of an alley-oop dunk at 13:14 to give Mines their first lead at 13-11.
 
Sufyan Elkannan hit a three the other way to flip the score right back as Carter and McGill continued to keep MSUD out front approaching the halfway point in the opening period. The separation between the teams fluctuated between two and six until the Orediggers went on an 11-0 run capped with an Adam Krasovec three-pointer to take a 30-25 lead. Mankle scored four points along the way including the game-tying and go-ahead buckets.
 
McGill responded with a three-pointer of his own for the Roadrunners on the next possession as his shot was the final one of the first half which saw the teams head to the locker room engaged in a 30-28 battle.
 
Mines opened the second half on a 10-2 run that saw the lead swell to 40-30 as Schroeder and Alex Romack each scored four points during the sequence with the sophomore throwing down an impressive two-handed dunk off a Mankle steal. Sure enough however, MSU Denver came back to within a bucket as a quick 8-0 run capped with a Logan Threatt and-one made it 40-38 with just over 15 minutes to play.
 
The Orediggers took the counter by the Roadrunners and managed some brief breathing room at 45-38 following a three-ball from Adam Krasovec, but again MSUD charged back within a basket following a jumper by Carter off a turnover to make it 47-45. The same sequence played out again past the 10-minute mark in the second as Mines pushed their lead to seven following a three-point play by Pastorcic-Straun before MSU Denver made it a two-point game behind a wide-open dunk by Carter that made it 52-50.
 
Schroeder and Pastorcic-Straun helped steady the ship for the Orediggers, keeping it around a three-possession lead heading inside five minutes to play. Krasovec's third three-pointer of the night from Pastorcic-Straun with 1:52 remaining was clutch and made it an eight-point lead at 63-55. A quick run to the free throw line by the Roadrunners saw them cut the advantage to four in the final 68 seconds and then down to three at 64-61 with six seconds left in regulation, but Schroeder iced things with two makes following a foul on the ensuing inbounds play to seal the 66-61 win.
 
NOTABLES
-Pastorcic-Straun went for 17 off the bench on 8-13 shooting with three assists and two steals
-Schroeder ended the night with 16 on 6-12 shooting and went 4-6 at the line with four rebounds
-Mankle chipped in 11 on 5-8 from the floor with two boards, an assist and a steal
-Krasovec was clutch off the bench with nine points on 3-5 shooting, all from three, and hauled in five rebounds in a season-high 24 minutes
-Moore had a big night off the bench with four points, five rebounds and two blocks
-Mines recorded six steals on 10 MSU Denver turnovers in the game and held the Roadrunners to just 21-58 (36.2%) shooting for the game, including 9-24 in the second half
 
UP NEXT
The Orediggers play their final home game of the 2024-25 season Thursday night at 7:30 p.m. against Regis for Rock The Lock and Senior Night.

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.