By: Con Marshall, CSC Sports Information
GOLDEN, Colo. -- January 25, 2020 -- Colorado Mines sank all 10 of its final field goal shots, half of them 3-pointers, and made all seven of its final free throws Saturday night while coming from behind to defeat Chadron State 95-87 in a Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference game in Golden.
Chadron State led the entire first half, including 46-33 at halftime and had its biggest lead at 62-46 with 13 minutes remaining. But the Orediggers would not be denied.
Mines tied the score at 73-73 with 4:44 to play and outscored the Eagles 22-14 the rest of the way.
Junior Kobi Betts and sophomore Brendan Sullivan fired the Orediggers' stretch run by tallying 14 and 13 points, respectively, in the final 6:43 when every shot the hosts took started dropping through the nets.
Both Betts and Sullivan finished with 28 points. Sophomore Ben Boone added 23 points and junior Michael Glenn contributed 14. Freshman Paul O'Leary scored the remaining two points for Mines, now 13-7 overall and 9-4 in the conference, good for third place.
Betts was 11 of 15 from the field, including four of seven from behind the arc; Sullivan made 10 of his 19 field goal shots, including three of six treys; and Boone was eight of 11 overall while making five of eight from long range.
Both teams shot 50.7 percent from the field. Mines was 35 of 69, including 14 of 32 on threes. Chadron State was 34 of 67, while sinking 10 of 19 from afar.
The Orediggers were 11 of 12 at the free throw line, where the Eagles were nine of nine. CSC grabbed a narrow 35-33 rebounding edge and had only nine turnovers, but Mines had just four.
Center Jacob Jefferson led the Eagles in scoring with 24 points, making 10 of 14 shots, including his only three, and all three charity shots. Point guard Colby Jackson added 14 points and handed out eight assists. Brian Rodriguez scored 13 points and was the game's leading rebounder with nine. Brady Delimont contributed 11 points. Both Jackson and Delimont were four of six overall from the field, including three of four from behind the arc.
Chadron State Coach Houston Reed was naturally disappointed with the outcome, but commended Mines for making so many "big-time shots" as the clock was winding down.
"We weren't as aggressive down the stretch as we needed to be, but we showed again that we can and do play good basketball." Reed said.
The Eagles are now 3-16 overall and 2-12 in the conference. They have played just five of their 19 games at home, but seven of their final nine will be in the Chicoine Center. The home games begin this weekend, when Black Hills State and South Dakota Mines will visit.