LAKEWOOD, Colo. – Looking to shake off their first setback of 2026, the Colorado School of Mines men's basketball team took the floor at the CCU Event Center Saturday afternoon against Colorado Christian in the lone meeting of the season between the teams. The Orediggers (9-10, 5-3) led for most of the afternoon against the Cougars (7-9, 2-6), and withstood a second half comeback attempt by the home team thanks to a season-high 27 off the bench by freshman Kasen Lehman in just his fourth career appearance.
 
Colorado Christian scored first on a Porter Bazil dunk before Trent Minter got the Orediggers on the board with a pirouetting layup. Shelton Henton splashed a three for what ended up being the only lead change of the afternoon as the Orediggers jumped out front. The team matched each other on their next few makes with CCU keeping pace before tying the score at 9-9 with 11:16 to go on a layup from Andrew Reichart. A driving layup from Braydon Jacob preceded the first triple of the day from Kasen Lehman to make it 14-9 as Mines jumped back in front. Action picked up over the final 10 minutes of the opening frame as a 13-4 run by the Orediggers saw them extend their lead to 14 at 29-15 as another three from Lehman capped a sequence that saw Jonathan Moore, Alex Romack and Kellon Johnson build the lead. After Joshua Reid hit a three the other way for the Cougars, Romack scored a third-chance bucket on a tip-in to open an 8-2 run into the locker room as Mines led 37-21 after 20 minutes.
 
As action resumed, the Cougars came out attacking, forcing four turnovers and scoring the first six points of the period to close back within 10 at 37-27 with 17:39 left. A jumper from Henton got Mines on the board nearly four minutes into the half before a three from Minter splashed home to make it 42-28. Pierce Bazil scored the next three for CCU before Lehman buried back-to-back three-pointers as the lead peaked at 17 at 48-31 with just over 11 minutes to play. What followed was a 15-3 run by the Cougars over the next four minutes as the Bazil brothers, namely Pierce, took over and just about single-handedly willed CCU back into contention as he scored 11 points in the sequence capped by two free throws to make it 51-46 with 6:37 to go. Two Henton free throws stopped the bleeding for Mines before Lehman followed with a driving layup and three with help from Minter to quickly push the lead back to 12. The Orediggers freshmen were the rock that broke the proverbial wave of momentum the Colorado Christian was riding as the Cougars closed to within 10 twice down the stretch, but no closer. Ultimately, Lehman scored 12 of the final 16 points of the game for the Orediggers as Minter helped ice things from the free throw line and close out the 69-56 win.
 
NOTABLES
-Lehman dropped a 20-ball for the second time in his first four games as he scored a game-high 27 off the bench on 10-14 from the floor and 7-11 from downtown with two rebounds in 21 minutes; in the first four games of his career, the freshman is shooting .538 (21-39) from the floor and .438 (14-32) from three
-Minter stuffed the stat sheet once again, scoring 12 on 3-5 from the floor and 5-8 from the free throw line and just missed his second double-double with nine rebounds while flirting with a triple-double with seven dimes while adding two blocks and a steal
-Romack turned in his 12th double-double of the season despite being held scoreless in the final 20 minutes, ending with 12 points and 12 rebounds on 6-9 shooting and dealing with foul trouble the final six minutes of the game
-Moore tied his career-high with four more blocks while hauling in five rebounds and scoring five
-Henton chipped in seven with two assists and a steal
-Mines shot an even .500 (25-50) in the winning effort and .400 (10-25) from downtown; Saturday was just the second time this season Mines shot 50% or better from the floor and the fourth time they've shot 40% or better from three
-The Orediggers recorded six blocks in the game, marking the eighth time this season they've rejected five or more shots in a game
-Mines improves to 41-14 all-time against CCU and 20-7 on the road
 
UP NEXT
The Orediggers continue their three-game road trip next Thursday with a night at Regis on January 22 at 7 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.