GOLDEN, Colo. -  #6 Colorado School of Mines punched its ticket to the NCAA Elite Eight, producing a second straight blowout victory to beat Northwest Nazarene 84-52 in the West Regional final.

The Orediggers (18-2) will head to Evansville, Ind. for the final three rounds of the NCAA Division II tournament starting March 24. Their opponent and times will be determined later this week as the other seven regions will hold their finals on Tuesday.

Tournament Most Outstanding Player Ben Boone scored 13 points and keyed another crushing defensive effort with three steals as he helped hold the Nighthawks' outstanding guard Ezekiel Alley to just 10 points. Brendan Sullivan led all scorers with 19 and Trent Dykema sparked a big Mines bench effort with a career-high 17 as both were named to the all-regional team.

The Elite Eight trip will be Mines' second after they won the South Central region in 2017.

Mines dictated the pace of the game after the Nighthawks had a solid few opening minutes, preventing NNU from using the transition game that saw them upset #24 Point Loma and #1 Colorado Mesa in the first two rounds. Down 15-9 in the first half, Mines hit a 14-5 stretch with six buckets by six different players to take a 23-19 lead; after a Gabriel Murphy basket for NNU, Mines hit another 14-3 run to blow open the game at 37-24 just before halftime, ultimately leading 42-27 at the break.

It was more of the same to start the second half as Sullivan scored eight straight points to make it 50-29 less than four minutes in, and a later 10-0 run all but sealed the Nighthawks' fate as Mines blew the lead to as much as 36 late in the half.

NOTABLES
- After holding Biola to 52 points in Saturday's second round - the lowest point total ever allowed by Mines in the NCAA Tournament - the Orediggers did it again on Monday, limiting NNU to .308 shooting overall as the Nighthawks committed 18 turnovers.
- Boone's scoring - 13 points on Monday and 19 against Biola - stood out but his defense helped hold Alley, who scored 30 on Saturday against Colorado Mesa, to just 4-of-16 shooting overall. 
- Dykema was electric off the bench hitting 6-of-8 shots including a pair of three pointers. Over the two regional games, he shot 9-for-13 and nearly tripled his season average at 12.0 points per game.
- Sullivan broke loose in the second half for a 7-of-10 night and 19 points, adding four assists, two steals, and a rebound. He was an eye-popping +31. 
- Bench points were huge for Mines, scoring 38 in all led by Dykema (17), Kai Barr (a career-high 9), and Titus Reed (6). 
- Barr came close to his first career double-double as he snagged a game-high and career-high 10 rebounds, and he also blocked three shots. 
- Mines shot .492 overall including 7-of-16 (.438) for three and 15-of-20 (.750) at the line.
- The Orediggers held a 44-40 rebounding edge. 
- Mines' only other Elite Eight trip came in 2017, when they defeated West Texas A&M in the South Central region to advance to the finals in Sioux Falls, S.D. This year, Mines was playing in the West region for one year only as the NCAA shuffled regions to balance the number of competing teams. Northwest Nazarene was representing the GNAC.
- Fresno Pacific's Aamondae Coleman was also named to the all-region team joining Alley, Boone, Sullivan, and Dykema.
- The Nighthawks ended their season at 13-5 after a Cinderella run that saw them be the only fifth seed left in the tournament.