GOLDEN, Colo. – What looked early like it might be a one-sided affair ended up being closer than the records indicated Friday night at Lockridge Arena, as the #8/10 Colorado School of Mines Orediggers held off an upset-minded South Dakota Mines squad to record a 68-61 win in their third home game of the season.
 
The Orediggers (9-0, 3-0) started off the night red-hot, but the Hardrockers (2-7, 1-2) battled back over the course of the night on several occasions but a trio of double-digit scorers wasn't enough to pull off the upset as Adam Thistlewood dropped a season-best 24 points while Sam Beskind added 15 of his own to help Mines remain unbeaten and extend their winning streak to open the season to nine.
 
Mines opened the game on a 12-0 run that saw four of the five starters all find the scoring column in the opening four minutes of the night. South Dakota Mines got on the board with a 1-2 trip to the line at 15:54 as the Orediggers pushed the lead to 16 at 17-1 following a jumper from Thistlewood and a trey from Trent Dykema with 14:32 to play.
 
Thistlewood gave Mines their biggest lead of the night at 24-7 with a jumper in the paint just before the halfway mark of the period, after which the Hardrockers started to shake off their slow start and chip away at the lead. A 9-0 run by SDM capped by a Walter Brevin transition layup cut it to an eight-point affair at 8:25 before the Orediggers were able to push the lead back to 12 following a pair of Beskind free throws to make it 28-16.
 
It remained a double-digit lead until a three from Kolton Frugoli made it 32-23 with 2:31 in the half as the Hardrockers continued to push Mines in the final moments to make it a 34-27 game heading into the intermission.
 
As play resumed, South Dakota Mines again came out sluggish to begin the half, as they quickly fell behind by double figures again at 44-29 after a quick 9-0 run from Mines highlighted by a transition dunk off a steal by Beskind. The Orediggers managed to keep the Hardrockers in check for nearly the first 14 minutes of the second half, leading by as much as 16 in the period with 9:53 to play after a driving layup from Reagan Koch to make it 49-33.
 
A Kolten Mortensen three with 6:32 to play energized the visitors and touched off a 16-3 run that got SDM to within a pair following a jumper inside from Frugoli to make it 58-56 with 2:08 remaining. Mines buckled down as Thistlewood scored the next seven to push the lead back to five at 65-60 in the final minute. With time against them, South Dakota Mines just ran out of chances in the final 45 seconds, as the foul game was too little, too late as a pair of free throws from Beskind all but wrapped up the 68-61 win.
 
NOTABLES
-Thistlewood finished with a game-high 24 points on 9-12 shooting with four rebounds and two assists
-Beskind has now gone for double-figures in each of the last four games and recorded his sixth game of the season with at least five assists
-Koch was a spark off the bench going 4-7 from the floor with three steals and two boards in 21 minutes
-The Orediggers had the upper hand in several categories tonight, including points in the paint (32-28), points off turnovers (12-6) and bench points (17-5) and collecting eight steals on 13 SDM turnovers

LOOKING AHEAD
The Orediggers will be back in action for the second of four in a row at home Saturday night against #4/5 Black Hills State at 7 p.m. at Lockridge Arena.
 
Fans can keep up with Mines men's basketball on Twitter at @minesmbb. They can also keep up with Colorado School of Mines Athletics all year long on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram using the handle @MinesAthletics.