Men fall to Kearney

The Chadron State men’s basketball team had their first home opener on Monday against University of Nebraska-Kearney. In two, 20 minute halves, the Lopers were able to defeat the Eagles 96-75.

The biggest threat from Kearney was Jon Henderson, who made 12 of 18 shots from the field, 18 of those points being in the first half. Also, three of his teammates scored in the double figures which helped the Lopers capture the win.

For Chadron, scoring was spread evenly throughout the team. Zac Bargen, junior forward of Chadron, led with 15 points, but 14 points came from off the bench when Grant Stone, junior guard of Canton, Mich., made four of six three-pointers and was five of eight from the field. Kendrick Holliman, sophomore of Spanish Fort, Ala., totaled 10 points and five assists for the night.

“I think that we have a very balanced team with lots of depth, especially on the wings.  We don’t have a dominant scorer at this time.  Because of our depth and the style we like to play the scoring should be very balanced each game,” Head Coach Brent Bargen said.

The Eagles ended the second half on a high note when they trailed by only nine, 45-36. However, the Lopers then went on a 13-4 scoring run, somewhat caused by the Eagles getting into foul trouble. Kearney converted on more free throws, going 8-8 in the first half and 14-21 in the second. They also made more second chance points off rebounds, going 10-0.

“We allowed way too many points.  We probably scored enough points to win but our defense and rebounding must improve if we are going to get back to the RMAC tournament,” Bargen said.

The men’s basketball team travels to Fort Collins to take on Colorado State University today. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m.

“The crowd was tremendous!  We hope that everyone will continue to come out and support our program,” Bargen said.