PUEBLO, Colo. --- The South Dakota School of Mines men's basketball team let an 18-point lead slip away in the second half of action Friday night as the CSU-Pueblo ThunderWolves pulled off a late rally to defeat the Hardrockers, 87-74, during a Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference matchup in Pueblo, Colo.

The T-Wolves swapped out their game plan in the second half and applied a crippling full-court press on the 'Rockers that netted the results they were looking for. They caused some turnovers and disrupted the rhythm of SD Mines' offense that worked so effectively in the early goings.

SD Mines held a 14-point advantage at halftime, 44-30, and extended their edge to 18 points at the 16-minute mark. CSUP's captured the momentum and tied the game around the 10-minute mark and then surged ahead to get the win. The Pack outscored SD Mines, 57-30, in the second half of play.

The Hardrockers were red hot in the first half shooting 56.7 percent from the field while CSU-Pueblo found their groove over the final 20 minutes making good on 18-32 shots for 56.3 percent shooting from the field.

For the game, the 'Rockers made good on 26-58 attempts to shoot 44.8 percent from the field. The visitors connected on 4-18 from three-point range and converted 18-28 free throw tries. They collected 33 rebounds, had 10 assists and two steals.

The T-Wolves ended the night shooting 50 percent hitting 29-58 attempts, including an 8-23 performance from behind the arch and were good for 21-26 from the foul line. The home team came down with 36 rebounds, recorded 15 assists, three steals and four blocked shots.

Individually for the Hardrockers, freshman Troy Brady had a season-high 24 points and added three rebounds and two assists. Sophomore Logan Elers contributed with 19 points, six rebounds and an assists while freshman Isaac Kortemeyer had eight points and seven rebounds.

The Pack was paced by Will Newman with 19 points while Mika Nuolivirta added 14 and both Jason Anderson and Donovan Oldham each cashed in for 13 markers.
The loss drops SD Mines to 6-7 on the season and 3-5 in the RMAC. Next up, the Hardrockers challenge the New Mexico Highlands Cowboys Saturday at 7 p.m. in Las Vegas, N.M.