DURANGO, Colo. – After a brief stopover at home Saturday, the Colorado School of Mines men's basketball team returned to the road Thursday night looking to continue their winning ways against RMAC-leading Fort Lewis. Despite a strong second half effort in front of a raucous crowd at Whalen Gymnasium fueled by double-double performances from Jonathan Moore and Alex Romack, the Orediggers (11-11, 7-4) came up short in their quest to knock off the Skyhawks (13-5, 11-0) who held on late to scratch out a 78-70 win.
 
Mines scored first and led for most of the opening stretch of the night as the teams settled in. Trent Minter drove strong to the rim against Stewart Erhart on the opening possession before throwing a lob to Jonathan Moore for a dunk to quickly make it 4-0. Fort Lewis came back with the next five to take the lead thanks to a three-point play from Cassius Carmichael before Shelton Henton splashed his first trey of the night to retake a 7-5 advantage. Kasen Lehman got in on the action with a three off the bench before Moore and Minter teamed up against make it 12-5. A 13-3 Skyhawks run spanning the better part of four minutes saw them go ahead 18-15. A pair of three-pointers from Henton were answered immediately by FLC as Chuol Deng and Trey Curry helped keep the home team in front. The Skyhawks stretched their lead to seven by the 5:37 mark at 32-25 and managed to maintain their gap to the locker room. A pair of late triples from Moore punctuated a scoring flurry in the final 2:30 to keep the Orediggers within reach as the teams went to the break separated by eight at 43-35.
 
Coming out of the intermission, Fort Lewis wasted little time extending their lead to 14 following a series of dunks from Massal Diouf and Donald Bangham, Jr. that made it 53-39. Alex Romack answered with a dunk of his own the next possession, but momentum continued to ride with the Skyhawks as their lead swelled to 17 at 58-41 with 15:34 to play. A 10-0 Mines run helped silence the crowd and propel them right back in the mix as Kellon Johnson started the run with two free throws before capping it with a three that made it 58-51 with help from Romack and Braydon Jacob along the way. The Orediggers kept fighting as both the deficit and the clock wound down. A Cooper Mroczek three-pointer kicked off another big run for Mines, this time of the 10-3 variety, as a tip-in bucket by Romack made it a one-point game at 66-65 with just over five minutes to play. Diouf scored a layup the other way for FLC before Lehman delivered a clutch three-pointer to level things at 68 with 4:15 to play. Unfortunately, the Orediggers couldn't capitalize further, as Jaxon Smith and Deng reestablished a four-point lead for the Skyhawks while the Silver and Blue went cold down the stretch offensively. Playing the foul game and trying to earn extra possessions, the second half surge by Mines stalled as Fort Lewis cashed out from the free throw line to narrowly earn the 78-70 win.
 
NOTABLES
-Moore, who wore #44 instead of his customary #42 Thursday night, led all scorers with 17 points and recorded his first double-double of the season and his career with 10 rebounds while going 7-10 from the floor and 3-6 from long range
-Romack recorded a double-double as well, ending with 16 points and 10 rebounds of his won on 5-7 shooting and 6-9 from the line
-Henton went for 12 on 4-9 shooting with all four of his makes coming from downtown while dishing three assists and recording three steals
-Johnson ended the night with seven points and three assists
-Lehman chipped in six off the bench with two rebounds
-Defensively, Mines held Fort Lewis to 4-20 on three-point shooting
-With the result, the Orediggers settle into a tie for fourth in the RMAC standings with CSU Pueblo at 7-4
 
UP NEXT
The Orediggers head to Alamosa Saturday for a 3 p.m. contest with Adams State in the second of two meetings between the schools this season.

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.