PUEBLO, Colo. – Taking to the road for the first time in 2026, the Colorado School of Mines men's basketball team saw their four-game winning streak come to an end at the hands of CSU Pueblo Thursday night by a score of 63-54. After overcoming a challenging start to the night on offense, the Orediggers (8-10, 4-3) battled back and took the lead in the second half before succumbing to the ThunderWolves (11-4, 5-2) in the closing minutes.
 
Shelton Henton and Jonathan Moore splashed a pair of three-pointers to open the festivities, but it ended up being more than 10 minutes until Mines scored again as CSU Pueblo went on an 18-0 run to build up a 12-point lead. A transition dunk by Alex Romack snapped the scoring drought as the Orediggers looked to get something going on the offensive end over the final eight minutes of the half. After a dunk back the other way by Jordan Blair, Mines uncorked a 12-3 run powered by Romack with help from Cooper Mroczek and Will Cordonnier along the way to close the gap down to 23-21 with 2:41 left in the half. A driving layup from Blair on the next possession made it a three-point lead for CSUP before a pull-up free throw line jumper by Henton in the final minute trimmed it 25-24 heading into the intermission.
 
Mines retook the lead to resume play in the second as a three from Moore and a pair of layups from Romack made it 31-27. Two Kellon Johnson free throws followed by a Romack dunk from Trent Minter made it a 35-30 game four minutes into the frame. CSUP came back with the next five to tie things up before Kasen Lehman briefly provided some separation with a three-pointer. A three from Bryce Riehl the other way tied it before the ThunderWolves took the lead on a dunk from Kyren Allen to make it 40-38 at the 11:33 mark. A Johnson layup leveled the score as the teams matched buckets for the next two minutes before The Pack regained the lead for good on a Ty Adam layup at 8:37 that made it 46-44. The Orediggers kept it close down the stretch, but after a three from Henton at 7:05, Mines went 1-8 from the floor to end the game and failed to keep pace from the free throw line as CSU Pueblo slowly edged away to post the nine-point win.
 
NOTABLES
-Romack recorded his fourth straight double-double to start the new year and his 11th of the season, ending with a game-high 23 points on 9-11 shooting including his first three-pointer of the season while hauling in 11 rebounds and dishing four assists
-Henton ended the night with eight points on 3-8 from the floor with three dimes
-Moore had six points on 2-3 shooting with three rebounds as he battled with foul trouble
-Cordonnier chipped in four off the bench with five rebounds and a pair of steals
-Jacob also had four off the bench on 1-3 from the floor and 2-2 at the line
-Johnson rounded our the trio with four points and added three boards
 
UP NEXT
Mines returns to the metro area Saturday afternoon when they head to Lakewood to square off with Colorado Christian 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.