RAPID CITY, S.D. – South Dakota Mines Men's Basketball took down CSU Pueblo 84-77 in overtime on Saturday afternoon.
The Hardrockers won the first half 37-30 after a fast start. South Dakota Mines went up 20-9 just over eight minutes into the half.
Gray Thompson,
Jason Lee,
Ryan Sweeney and
Gavin Soukup all had three-pointers in the first nine minutes of the half.
The ThunderWolves brought the deficit down to four points with 7:18 left in the half. A 9-1 Hardrocker run gave them a 12-point lead with 3:38 left. The Hardrockers held a 37-30 lead after 20 minutes.
CSU Pueblo won the second half 38-31 to force overtime. They started to land more shots in the half as both teams traded points late in the half. With a seven-point deficit, CSU Pueblo went on a 10-0 run to go up 60-57 with 5:32 left.
Both teams went back-and-forth at the end of the half. Lee made a three-pointer to give the Hardrockers a four-point lead but was followed by a CSU Pueblo three-pointer with 3:23 left. The ThunderWolves took a 68-67 lead until Soukup made a free throw to send the game to overtime.
To start overtime, Lee picked up a steal and
Darren Wallace recorded a dunk to give South Dakota Mines an early lead. That started a 7-0 run at the start of overtime. The Hardrockers kept that lead and made free throws at the end of the game to win 84-77.
Lee led the game with 30 points on 12-for-21 field goal shooting and 4-for-7 three-point shooting. He also had six assists, three rebounds and two steals. Sweeney recorded 23 points, while Soukup totaled 14 points.
The Hardrockers picked up 44 points in the paint and 26 points off turnovers. They shot 52.4% from the field and 38.5% from three-point range.
With the win, South Dakota Mines moved to 5-6 overall and 3-1 in the RMAC. Their 3-1 RMAC record is tied for the best start in RMAC play in program history.
What's Next
South Dakota Mines stays at home this week to face Bethany on Dec. 18 at 6 p.m. They will take the holidays off before returning on Jan. 8 at MSU Denver.
