GOLDEN, Colo. – It was a thriller of an afternoon Saturday at Lockridge Arena as the Colorado School of Mines men's basketball team completed the weekend sweep to open the month of February with a 77-71 overtime win over Westminster. In a game that featured eight ties and 17 lead changes, it was the post duo of Jonathan Moore and Alex Romack who powered the Orediggers (13-12, 9-5) to the win as they shined on both ends of the floor on the way to grounding the Griffins (9-13, 4-10) to split the season series and regain the lead in the all-time series.
 
Michael Frazier got Westminster on the board first before a Romack dunk and a transition layup from Kellon Johnson off the first of 10 Mines blocks in the game saw the lead change hands at 4-2. After Frazier cleaned up his own miss off a block by Moore, Romack stepped outside and buried a straightaway three-pointer as he was hot early. Without a whistle for more than six and a half minutes to start the game, the opening stint was a long one as the lead changed hands twice more on a putback by Jonah El-Farra and a triple from Moore as by the time play halted for the first time, things were level at 15 at 13:24. Frazier, who tied the game before the break, put WU back ahead coming back out before Will Cordonnier splashed a three followed before assisting on a Derek Lamb bucket to make it 20-17 Mines. The Griffins hung around before a quick five-point burst rom Colin Hayes and Cameron Cohn saw them retake the lead 26-24. Mines scored seven of the next nine capped by Moore dunk off a Braydon Jacob steal as the lead changed hands again at 31-28. Heading to halftime, the Orediggers tried to stretch the advantage and led by as much as five after two Shelton Henton free throws before Jack Jamele scored in the final minute to make it 35-32 after a tightly-contested opening stanza.
 
Action remained close to start the second half as Romack scored in transition to again make it a five-point game, but Westminster never allowed for any real separation as they leaned on El-Farrah, Cohn and Frazier to keep it close. After a Romack layup, Mines head coach Pryor Orser was whistled for a technical foul for arguing his opinion with the officials as two free throws from Frazier led off a 6-0 burst that saw the visitors retake the lead 46-43 with 13:06 to go. WU continued to lead for almost the next six-plus minutes and held a six-point edge after two Jamele free throws that made it 52-46 at the 10:14 mark. Jacob and Moore closed the gap to two and after a Boston Painter layup, Trent Minter splashed a clutch three-pointer to make it a one-point game at 54-53 with just under seven minutes left. Romack scored the next four with help from Minter to take the lead back at 57-54 before a Frazier three leveled things once more at 4:53. Moore answered back with a three coming out of a media timeout to make it a three-point lead in the waning minutes. Frazier came through again for WU with 65 seconds in regulation, as he drew a foul on a made layup before converting the ensuing free throw to tie things once more at 62 with 65 seconds to go. A Mines turnover in the final minute led to the Griffins having two chances at the win in regulation, but the Oredigger defense dug in their heels as an off-balance three from Frazier in the final seconds missed wide to send the game to overtime.
 
Westminster scored first on a layup from Hayes before Moore splashed a three-pointer from Jacob to retake the lead. A dunk by El-Farra the other way saw the 14th lead change of the day halfway through the extra frame was answered on an inside jumper from Minter as the game hung in the balance on seemingly every possession. Two Hayes free throws swapped the lead again at 68-67, but with 1:32 to play Jacob splashed perhaps the biggest three of his young career to retake the lead for good at 70-68. After a miss from Hayes, Jacob drove inside before kicking to Moore in the corner for a three that made it a five-point game. Hayes answered for Westminster with an old-fashioned three-point play to make it 73-71 but that was to be all for the Griffins as the big men Moore and Romack iced things from the free throw line to close the hard-earned 77-71 victory.
 
NOTABLES
-Moore led the Orediggers with a game-high 23 points on 8-13 shooting including 5-9 from deep while tying his career-high with four shots and pulling in two rebounds
-Make it 16 double-doubles for Romack this season as he ended with 19 points on 8-14 shooting including a three-pointer to go with 11 rebounds as he too tied his career-high with four blocked shots
-Jacob shined off the bench, scoring eight points in 27 minutes on 3-6 shooting including 2-4 from three while dishing out a season-best six assists and tying his season high with five rebounds
-Henton added six points with five assists and a steal while Johnson also ended with six points on 3-6 shooting with five rebounds and two dimes
-Cordonnier, coming off a career night Thursday, followed up with six points as well in just seven minutes on 2-5 shooting
-Minter was consistent again across the board, scoring five on 2-4 shooting including a timely three while hauling down seven rebounds, dishing out two assists and recording two blocks
-All nine players who saw action Saturday for the Orediggers scored
-Three-point defense was stifling once more for Mines as they held Westminster to just 2-22 (.091) from deep over the 45 minutes of action
-Distribution of wealth was the order of the day for Mines on offense as they logged 25 assists on 30 field goals
-It was another strong shooting day as the Orediggers went 30-64 (.469) from the floor, 10-25 (.400) from three and 7-8 (.875) from the free throw line
-Mines totaled 10 blocked shots in the game for their first 10-block performance since February 18, 2023 against Chadron State
-The Orediggers are back above .500 on the season for the second time in three weeks and now find themselves in a three-way tie for fourth in the RMAC standings with Adams State and CSU Pueblo
 
UP NEXT
The Orediggers head back on the road for the final full weekend of the season next week when they travel to #13 Black Hills State and Chadron State February 12 and 14.

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.