Eagles comeback falls short against Mountain Lions
By: John Murphy, CSC Sports Information Assistant
CHADRON, Neb. – Chadron State narrowed the UCCS lead to three with 49 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter, but were unable to overcome a 22-5 first quarter deficit Saturday night, falling to the Mountain Lions 70-64.
CSC falls to 5-21 on the season and 3-14 in the RMAC. UCCS improves to 7-16 and 6-11 in conference play.
The Mountain Lions outscored the Eagles 22-5 in the first quarter and led 43-29 at half.
"We got down too far in the beginning," said CSC Head Women's Basketball Janet Raymer, "and we just couldn't quite get out of that hole.
CSC outscored their opponent by two in the third quarter and six in the fourth, and lowered the UCCS lead to three twice, but missed four of their final five field goal attempts in the final minute. UCCS made five of six from the charity stripe in that timeframe to seal the win.
The Eagles shot 41.5 percent (22-53) from the field in the loss. Seven of their 23 three-pointers were good and 13 of 22 attempts from the charity stripe were made.
After shooting 56 percent in the first half, UCCS finished the game 44.4 percent (28-63) from the field. The Mountain Lions only made two of their 16 shots from behind the arc, but converted 12 of 16 free throws.
Chadron State had 19 turnovers in the loss, compared to the visitors 11. The Eagles turnovers resulted in 21 Mountain Lion points, while CSC scored seven points off the Mountain Lion turnovers.
"We turned the ball over too much, and we got into an uphill battle. That's not the battle we want. We want to battle even," Raymer said.
Both teams had 34 rebounds in the contest.
Taryn Foxen led both teams with 20 points, followed by Jessican Lovitt with 11 for the Eagles. Jori Peters scored five points, to go along with a team high seven rebounds and five assists.
Ellie Moore led the Mountain Lions with 12 points. No other UCCS players scored in double-figures, but six different players had eight points.
CSC returns to the road as they travel to their only south opponents. The Eagles will face South Dakota School of Mines on Friday and Black Hills State on Saturday. Both teams defeated Chadron State two weeks ago.
MBB: Eagles' shooting fades down stretch
By: Kaleb Center, CSC Sports Information
CHADRON, Neb. -- February 8, 2020 -- The struggles continued for the Chadron State College men's basketball Saturday night, when Colorado-Colorado Springs broke a 54-54 tie midway in the second half and went on to defeat the Eagles 75-62 in a Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference contest in Chadron.
Chadron State shot 53.8 percent (14-26) from the field in the first half while building a 40-34 halftime lead. But the Eagles went cold in the second half when they hit just 29 percent (9-31) and were outscored 41-22.
Things got worse the longer the game continued for the hosts. They made only three of 15 field goal tries in the final 8 ½ minutes after they'd tied the score at 54 on an old-fashioned 3-point play by freshman Andre Sepeda.
Colorado Springs, now 15-7 overall and 11-6 in the RMAC, didn't blister the nets, making 11 of 30 shots (36.7%) in the opening half and 13 of 27 (48.1%) in the second half for 42 percent overall. But the Mountain Lions sank 10 three-pointers, twice as many as the Eagles, and outscored the hosts 17-11 from the free throw line.
Seniors Padiet Wang and Blend Avdili each scored 15 points to lead the visitors, while junior Parker Gaddis contributed 14 and freshman Alijah Comithier 12.
Chadron State's leading scorers were senior Brian Rodriguez and freshman Andre Sepeda with 16 apiece. While Rodriguez is the Eagles' leading scorer with a 16.7-point average, it was the first time Sepeda had scored in double figures.
Coach Houston Reed said he appreciated the energy the 5-foot-8 Greeley, Colo., product provided. Sepeda was six of eight from the field, including three of five from behind the arc, and the free shot.
"We needed a little spark tonight and got it from Andre," the coach noted.
Reed also liked the three consecutive layups provided by center Jacob Jefferson, in less than two minutes early in the second half, one of them after he'd grabbed a rebound. But Reed said in the final analysis, the Eagles "simply struggled to put the ball in the basket in the second half."
Colorado Springs--Padiet Wang 15, Blend Avdili 15, Parker Gaddis 14, Alijah Comithier 12, Pat Lanipekun 8, Ed Bourke 4, Geoff Kelly 3, William Becker 3, Johnnie Jones III 1. Totals: 24-57 (10-28) 17-24, 75 points, 36 rebounds, 6 turnovers.
Chadron State--Brian Rodriguez 16, Andre Sepeda 16, Jacob Jefferson 10, Stephon Bell 9, Kayden Sund 5, Colby Jackson 2, Kenan Gray 2, Kevin DiMarco 2. Totals: 23-57 (5-20) 11-13, 62 points, 37 rebounds, 12 turnovers.
Colorado Springs 34 41 ----75
Chadron State 40 22 ----62