CSM basketball splits games with Chadron State

This past Friday, both of the Oredigger basketball teams faced off against Chadron State in RMAC competition at Lockridge Arena.

To start off the night, the Lady Orediggers lost in heartbreaking fashion to Chadron State College. Mines got off to a slow start, making less than 30% of their baskets in the first half and trailing heading into halftime 33-21.

The Eagles came out and continued their attack in the second, pushing the lead to 53-32 with 12:17 left in the game. A timeout was quickly called, and head coach Paula Krueger brought her team together in an attempt to start a rally.

While we do not know for sure what was said during the timeout, the results definitely showed on the court. The Lady Orediggers went on a 30-10 run capped off by a two point jumper by Angie Charchalis, who then proceeded to make the free throw after she was fouled to bring the score to 61-63 in favor of the Eagles with 47 seconds remaining in the game. The Lady Orediggers played shutdown defense during the Eagles next possession, forcing a missed shot. However, the ball went out of bounds and was awarded to Chadron State.

Senior Stephanie Fogle then stole the inbounds pass and raced down the court for the game-tying layup with 14 seconds remaining. Each team had their chance to break the deadlock in those last seconds, but neither succeeded, forcing overtime.

But at that point, after rallying from a late 21-point deficit, the Lady Orediggers’ luck ran out. Mines even held the lead at 69-68 with under two minutes left in the extra session, but the Eagles managed to connect on several key free throws down the stretch to pull out the victory.

In the second game of the doubleheader, the 15-2, 11th ranked Orediggers took on the 5-12 Eagles. The Orediggers had little trouble in this game, jumping out to 6-0 lead early en route to a 98-68 victory that was one missed call from pushing Mines into triple digits. During the second half, the Eagles never got within 15 points of the Orediggers.

Mines was led in scoring by Brett Green with 19 points, closely followed by Dale Minschwaner with 17, while Brian Muller and Trevor Ritchie each had 13. Trevor Wages controlled the boards with 11 rebounds, 3 of which were on the offensive side. Nine different players scored for the Orediggers who had five score in double digits.