Luke Wheeler

Box Score

Colorado St.-Pueblo CSU-P 10-13,7-9 RMAC

South Dakota Mines SDSMT 13-10,10-7 RMAC

Colorado St.-Pueblo CSU-P

10-13,7-9 RMAC

Final

Feb. 08, 2020

South Dakota Mines SDSMT

13-10,10-7 RMAC

Score By Periods
Team	1	2	F
Colorado St.-Pueblo CSU-P	29	15	44
South Dakota Mines SDSMT	31	42	73

Game Recap: Men's Basketball | February 08, 2020 | Richard Anderson, Rapid City Journal

Hardrockers Silence Thunderwolves With 73-44 Victory

Next Game:

Chadron State

2/14/2020 | 7:30pm

Next Game

Full Schedule

Feb. 14 (Fri) / 7:30pm

Chadron State

History

Recap
Roster

Saturday, the South Dakota School of Mines men's basketball team didn't want to get in another shootout after outlasting New Mexico Highlands Friday night in a game where nearly 200 points were scored.

So they turned to their defense.

Mines shut down Colorado- State-Pueblo in the second half to earn its weekend sweep and fourth straight win, stopping the ThunderWolves 73-44 Saturday night at Goodell Gymnasium.

Mines, 10-7 in Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference play and 13-10 overall, came from over 20 points down in the first half Friday night before stopping Highlands 101-94. There was no need for that type of game two nights in a row.

"We talked about offensively that it could be rough, and it kind of was early on. I think we were 2-of-11 in the first half from 3," Mines coach Eric Glenn said. "We said it is going to have to start on the defensive end. I thought our guys really bought into that and they did a great job of executing our defensive game-plan."

Leading 31-29 at halftime, the Hardrockers allowed just one point in the second half until Pueblo scored its first field goal at the 10-minute mark.

By that time, Mines had built a 22-point lead and cruised to the win.

"The biggest thing was the first time we played them they were able to get really deep against us in the lane with the ball, and they were able to hit those 3s like they did (in the first half)," Glenn said. "I thought we did a great job of taking away their post; I think they had just one guy in double figures."

Senior post Logan Elers said said they went into the half knowing that they were playing strong defense for 25 seconds, but they had to close each possession stronger.

"We knew we had to outlast them and obviously the metrics would play out," Elers said. "We just did what we could do."

It was a back-and-forth first half, with six lead changes. Mines senior Tristan Von Nieda gave the Hardrockers the lead at the break with a short jumper at the buzzer to break the 29-all tie.

It was a so-so first half offensively, but it was the type of game Glenn preferred to be in.

"I thought that we were trying to pick up that same magic that got us going (Friday) night. With the 3-ball, you live by it and you die by it," Glenn said. "We could have gotten better looks, the shot selection wasn't quite what it needed to be in that first half. In the second half we did a much better job with our shot selection."

After shooting 42 percent in the first half and 2-of-11 3-pointers, the 'Rockers, led by Ellers, sophomore Mitch Sueker and senior Allec Williams, took control with a 23-1 run. Williams scored five straight for a 31-point lead with five minutes remaining.

The 6-foot-7 Elers, who went over the 1,000-point mark in his career last week, led all scorers with 18 points on 7-of-12 shooting from the field.

"I just appreciate what we are doing. With all of the good players, we don't really know what we are gong to do each night," Elers said. "I had the advantage tonight and my teammates went to me, but it can be any night where Mitch can go off or Allec, or any of our shooters. I was fortunate that it was my night and the ball was falling."

Glenn said it is just a matter of Elers and his frame seeing it all of the way through.

"We knew he was going to get going eventually, so it was a matter of just feeding him,' he said.

Sueker finished with 15 points and Williams 14 as the Hardrockers shot 50 percent from the field and from the 3-point arc in the second half.

Davis Simental led Pueblo, 7-9 in the RMAC and 10-13 overall, with 12 points. The ThunderWolves shot just 34 percent from the field, including 3-of-21 from beyond the arc and 0-of-9 in the second half.

Winners of seven of their last nine games, the Hardrockers look to keep the momentum going down the stretch as they hope to earn a conference playoffs berth. They went into this weekend in eighth place — eight teams move on to the playoffs.

"We know the playoffs are there, and the guys know where we are in the standings," Glenn said. "We can control what we can control, and the only thing we can control is to try to collect wins as we go along. The only way we can do that is focus on the next game, and that is against Chadron State Friday. That will be the only thing we can talk about, maybe a little against Metro State the next night."

Print Friendly Version