By: Con Marshall
CSC Sports Information
CHADRON, Neb. -- South Dakota Mines led for the first three minutes, but Chadron State went ahead 11-10 and led the rest of the way while winning a Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference men's basketball game 76-70 Saturday afternoon in Chadron.
The Eagles led 38-30 at halftime and built the difference to 16 points—57-41—with 11:48 left in the second half. Mines began pecking away and closed the gap to 70-65 with 1:32 remaining. But during the next minute CSC's Bryce Laitimer sank a pair of free shots and teammate Julio Phipps added a dunk to put the hosts ahead by nine points.
Neither team shot particularly well from the field—both around 40%--and each sank eight 3-pointers, but the Eagles often used their quickness to take the ball to the basket, drew seven more fouls than their opponent and outscored the Hardrockers 18-to-6 at the free throw line for one of the deciding factors.
Latimer and fellow senior Josh Robinson paced CSC with 17 and 16 points, respectively. Each also grabbed 10 rebounds and Latimer also had a game-high eight assists. Juniors Dalton Peterson and Raul Nunez each sank three treys while scoring 14 points apiece for the Eagles.
Mines was led by 6-foot-6 senior Keagan Smith with 24 points and 10 rebounds. Senior guard Alejandro Rama hit five 3-pointers while tallying 22 points. Cameron Cohan added 16 points for the visitors, but only three more Hardrockers scored and none of them had more than four points
The Eagles are now 11-9 overall and 8-6 in the RMAC. Mines is 9-11 and 7-7. The teams will meet again in Rapid City on March 1.
Next up, the Eagles will play at Colorado Christian in Lakewood on Wednesday, Feb. 7 and at Western Colorado in Gunnison on Friday. Feb. 9. They'll be at home again the following two weekends.
South Dakota Mines—Keegan Smith 24, Alejandro Rama 22, Cameron Cohn 16, Guillem Garcia 4, Kolton Frugoli 2, Guido Wanschelbaum 2. Totals: 28-78 (8-31) 6-14 70 points, 41 rebounds, 9 turnovers, 17 assists.
Chadron State—Bryce Latimer 17, Josh Robinson 16, Dalton Peterson 14, Raul Nunez 14, Jalen Patterson 4, Martin Poznanovic 4, Caden Schlafani 3, Julio Phipps 2, Porter Anderson 2. Totals: 25-60 (8-20) 18-23 76 points, 46 rebounds, 14 turnovers, 18 assists.
South Dakota Mines 30 40 ----70
Chadron State 38 38 ----76
3-pointers: SDM—Rama 5, Cohn 2, Smith 1. CSC—Peterson 3, Nunez 3, Latimer 1, Sclafani 1