PUEBLO, Colo. – Taking the court as a Top 25 team for the first time since opening weekend in November, the #23 Colorado School of Mines men's basketball team was on the road Friday night at Massari Arena to take on CSU Pueblo in Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference action. Despite a solid start to the night, the Orediggers (13-3, 7-1) needed to string together a second half rally and just missed winning in regulation, ultimately knocking off the ThunderWolves (7-7, 3-5) in overtime of a tightly-contested affair, winning their ninth-straight game by a final score of 85-79.
 
Alex Romack won the opening tip and scored the first points of the night seconds later on a long pass from midcourt by Sam Beskind, but the quick start wasn't indicative of how the game would start as neither side looked particularly crisp shooting in the early going. After Brevin Walter got the home team on the board, Romack traded buckets with CSUP, scoring the first seven of the night for the Orediggers and making it 7-4 at 16:52.
 
Things remained close as the half went on as the Orediggers were never able to get ahead by more than three despite the efforts of Riley Schroeder, Adam Krasovec and Beskind as the clock wound under 10 minutes. Momentum started to swing in favor of the ThunderWolves during the second half of the openin stanza, as Makiah Morris converted a three-point play to key off a 15-2 run starting at 9:23 and running all the way to the 4:52 mark as the lead changed hands and CSU Pueblo led by 10 at 27-17.
 
A second-chance basket by Beskind on a baseline layup momentarily broke things up, but back-to-back three-pointers followed by two free throws saw the ThunderWolves with their biggest lead of the half at 35-19 with 2:25 left before the break. Mines did their best to fight back, as Cade Mankle finally found nylon after a cold start to the night, converting a three-point play of his own before Beskind hit just his sixth three-pointer of the season to cut the gap back to 10 with 75 seconds left at 37-27. De'Shaun Cooper and Krasovec exchanged makes over the final 45 seconds as both teams went to the locker room with the ThunderWolves leading 39-29 and Mines being fortunate to be down only 10.
 
As the action resumed in the second half, Mines came out with a renewed effort, quickly cutting the lead down to one in the opening four minutes of the period, as Beskind, Deng and Mankle each connected from deep while Schroeder added a layup inside to make it 41-40. Isaiah Morris answered with a three on the other end to push the lead back to four, but Mankle buried another shot from downtown on the next possession. A chaotic sequence of turnovers saw both Mines and CSUP cough it up, with Beskind coming away with the second steal as a whistle stopped a fast break for the Orediggers as ThunderWolves head coach Matt Hammer was issued a technical foul by the officials. Deng stepped up to the line and nailed both free throws to give Mines their first lead since 9:23 in the first half.
 
The Orediggers kept their foot on the gas, pushing the lead out to as much as seven followed a three-ball from Deng at the 12:19 mark to make it 51-44 as the silver and blue opened the second half on a 22-5 run over the first eight minutes. The brothers Makiah and Isaiah Morris along with Armon Muldrew led the response for CSU Pueblo, going on an 11-2 that included three-straight makes from long range to regain the lead 57-53 with 9:33 to play.
 
The Mines big men made their presence known in the following minutes, as Krasovec and Riley Schroeder combined for six points in a quick burst that saw the lead change hands again at 7:45 at 61-59. A back-and-forth battle ensued over the following minutes with the lead changing a further three times. Walter, the South Dakota Mines transfer who had been quiet most of the night, stretched the CSUP lead back to four following a three-point play to make it 70-66. As the seconds ticked off the clock, the ThunderWolves seemed to be finding a way to keep the Orediggers at arm's length, leading by five with 1:39 left after a jumper from Brevin.
 
Beskind knocked down another timely three-pointer to cut it to 75-73 with 1:24 in regulation before Deng tied things up with 47 seconds on the clock. Both team had a chance to win it in the waning moments, but a putback miss following a missed three-pointer by CSU Pueblo along with a miss from Mines from midrange with two seconds left sent the action to overtime with the score even at 75.
 
While some one-sided scoring runs dominated periods of the night, it was a mutual struggle for both teams to begin the extra period as six missed field goals and four turnovers resulted in no points going on the board until the 2:34 mark, when Beskind went 1-2 at the line to briefly retake the lead. Walter came down with the rebound on the miss and drew a foul, hitting both free throws on the other end to put CSUP back on top. Romack, who quietly went about his business after scoring the first seven of the night, brought the Mines bench to their feet with a two-handed slam as the lead changed hands again. His layup on the next possession made it 80-77, but was unable to complete the three-point play.
 
A missed three by the ThunderWolves and two misses by the Orediggers in the frantic final 71 seconds were followed by the third technical foul of the night issued to CSUP, as Isaiah Morris was whistled and sent Cade Mankle to the line, where he went 1-2 to extend the lead to four. Juani Dassie was the next man to the line, as he was fouled on the next possession following the technical and flushed home both to make it 83-77. A floater from Muldrew cut the lead to four as another foul sent Mines back to the line, where Deng went 1-2 to make it a five-point lead. Muldrew missed his next three-point try while Deng missed his next two free throw attempts as the door stayed open in the final seconds. Muldrew misfired again with six seconds left as Beskind came down with the rebound, drawing one final foul and going to the line, making one of two to close out the night with an 85-79 win.
 
NOTABLES
-Beskind posted his second double-double of the season, ending the night with 15 points on 5-10 shooting and going a perfect 3-3 from beyond the arc while also adding 12 rebounds, five assists, three steals and two blocks
-Romack was a force, starting the night hot and playing a key role in the extra period and turning in his fourth double-double of his debut season, posting 17 points on 8-15 shooting and hauling in 10 rebounds
-Deng overcame early foul trouble and playing just eight minutes in the first half to also finish the night with 15 points and highlighted his night with a 3-6 performance from deep while pulling seven rebounds while adding a block and an assist
-Likewise Mankle also finished the night strong, scoring 12 points with four assists and three rebounds
-Krasovec came off the bench and also added 12 points, doing so on 5-6 shooting along with going 2-2 at the stripe and added five rebounds and five assists
-Schroeder scored eight points on 4-8 shooting with three rebounds, four assists, two blocks and a steal
-After struggling at time in the first half shooting, the Orediggers went 18-34 (52.9%) in the second half and overcame a 1-6 start from three to go 7-10 in the final period of regulation
-Mines finished the night +9 in rebounds at 44-35 and managed to overcome 14 turnovers, forcing nine and recording five steals and four blocks
-The 70 field goal attempts in the game by the Orediggers are the most in a game this season and finished the game with 22 assists on 32 made field goals
-The overtime win was the first for the Orediggers in 1,103 days, going all the way back to January 4 of 2021 when they knocked off Black Hills State 85-83 in Spearfish; it is only the fourth overtime game Mines has played in their last 96 games going back to the 2020-21 season
-Head coach Pryor Orser now has 434 career wins and 307 wins in RMAC action, moving closer to still to legendary Fort Lewis and Western Colorado coach Bob Hofman with 443 overall wins and 309 conference wins
 
UP NEXT
The Orediggers will continue their trek south Saturday when they head to Las Vegas, New Mexico to take on New Mexico Highlands.

Fans can keep up with Mines men's basketball on X and Instagram at @minesmbb. They can also keep up with Colorado School of Mines Athletics all year long on Facebook, X and Instagram using the handle @MinesAthletics.