DENVER, Colo. – The South Dakota Mines men's basketball team finished up its opening weekend of RMAC play at Regis University on Saturday evening.
South Dakota Mines rode a balanced offensive attack to a double-digit lead early in the second half and never took their foot off the gas, picking up the weekend sweep to open RMAC play and their third straight win by a score of 81-64. With the win, they move to 4-4 overall and 2-0 in RMAC play.
How It Happened
The two teams started the game going back and forth but a four-point play by
Cameron Cohn followed by a
Kolton Frugoli layup gave the Hardrockers a 13-8 advantage at the first media timeout. The two teams would continue to battle, but the Hardrockers led 23-21 with 7:49 to play in the half. Late in the first half, South Dakota Mines would get rolling. First,
Keagen Smith would hit a three, followed by a pair of buckets by
Abel Hutchinson, and then an
Alejandro Rama layup, building a double-digit lead at 35-24. Going into the half, SDM held a 41-33 advantage.
Keagen Smith led in scoring with 10, while Rama had eight and
Abel Hutchinson had seven along with
Cameron Cohn. Rama added three assists, two steals and a block. Hutchinson and Bruns added four boards.
Early in the second half, Rama would get going with a behind-the-back dribble leading to a made-contested mid-range shot followed by a three-pointer to give South Dakota Mines a 46-38 lead. The Hardrockers would continue to roll, taking a 16-point lead, 60-44 after a
Kolton Frugoli three-pointer. Two free throws from Hutchinson gave the Hardrockers a 68-49 lead with 8:45 to play. Regis would start to work back in though, scoring seven in a row and cutting the Hardrockers' lead to 68-56 after a Trey Bryant three. South Dakota Mines would continue to stay in control, however, getting back-to-back baskets from Frugoli and Rama, pushing the lead back to 16, 74-58 and then 76-58 after a pair of free throws by Cohn with just 4:50 to go in the game. There was no stopping the SDM offense on this night as Rama would hit a three to give him 20 and extend the lead to 81-64 with under two minutes to play and go on to win, 82-64.
Notes
The Hardrockers had five players score in double figures with
Kolton Frugoli and
Alejandro Rama leading the charge with 21 and 20…
Keagen Smith,
Cameron Cohn and
Abel Hutchinson added 15, 13 and 10…Hutchinson led the team with seven rebounds while Rama led with four assists…As a team, the Hardrockers shot a blistering 58% (29-50) from the field and 71.4% (10-14) from three-point range and won the rebounding battle, 39-25.
Up Next
South Dakota Mines comes back home for their first RMAC matchups at the King Center next weekend. On Friday night, Colorado School of Mines visits, while the Hardrockers play host to MSU Denver on Saturday. Those games are scheduled for 7:00 p.m. and 6:00 p.m. tip-offs.
About South Dakota Mines
The South Dakota School of Mines & Technology is a member of the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference (RMAC) and NCAA Division II offering 13 men's and women's varsity intercollegiate athletic programs. The Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference is a premier NCAA Division II conference with 15 members, as well as four associate members, located in the states of California, Colorado, Nebraska, New Mexico, Oklahoma, South Dakota, and Utah.
