Eagles come up short in nail-biting game
Chadron State men’s basketball team hosted their first RMAC game of the season against Colorado Mesa University on Friday. Competition was close in the first half, but a 13-0 scoring run helped lead the Mavericks over the Eagles in a 77-62 victory for Mesa.
Chadron was able to score the first points of the game with a three pointer from junior guard of Canton, Mich., Grant Stone. Stone ended up with 12 points, but the scoring was led by junior forward of Chadron, Zac Bargen. Bargen tallied 22 points and five rebounds. Another scorer in the double digits was David Downey, junior guard of Scottsbluff who tallied 12 points.
However, Colorado Mesa’s Colton Burgon scored the most for both teams with 26 points, much of them being in the second half, helping the Mavericks gain the lead. Mavericks, now 5-0 overall, tied the game with 12 and a half minutes left to play, and by making 39 of 50 field goals, they were able to prevail. Turnovers also hurt the Eagles as the Mavericks were able to make 35 points off lost balls by Chadron.
Chadron excelled at the free throw line, and was able to make 24 of 28 shots, but lacked in the paint by only making 16-39.
On Saturday, the Eagles were hungry for a win, and played neck-and-neck with the Western State Mountaineers, but came up short and lost the game 69-66.
After being down the whole game, Chadron was able to tie the game with almost 7 minutes left to play in the second half. After that, the game went back and forth as both teams fought for the lead several times. However, Western’s Travis Shepherd’s nine points in the final minutes gave them the edge they needed to take the win. Shepherd also led the Mountaineers with 26 points. Another key shooter was Terrence Boyd, who managed to score 13 points in just one half of playing time.
“We played well for longer, but both games we started out slow so we had more points to come back from,” Zac Bargen said.
Bargen led the Eagles once again with 24 points, and also had five rebounds and four assists. Stone scored his first double double with 12 points and 15 rebounds. Another scorer from the bench was Kyle Vinich, sophomore forward of Casper, Wyo., who contributed nine points and five boards.
“It’s disappointing anytime you can’t win that close of game,” said Head Coach Brent Bargen.
Western and Chadron tied in points from the bench with 22 and also with points in the paint with 30. However, Western converted more points off the Eagles’ turnovers with 22, compared to Chadron’s 13.
“We did a better job of getting the things done that we talked about in practice, but we have to keep doing them. It’s a growing process. No one wins games by the snap of their fingers. These games are all part of our growing process,” coach Bargen said.
The Eagles take on Colorado School of Mines on Friday and Colorado Christian University on Saturday. Both games are scheduled to start at 7 p.m. Both games are against RMAC teams.
“Colorado Mines is a very well-coached team with good players. They have the top scorer and top rebounder in the conference so they are going to be a difficult opponent” coach Bargen said.
Mines is currently 4-2, three of those wins being on their homecourt. Mines scores an average of 84.2 points per game, while Chadron has averaged 65.3.
“We need to play a complete 40 minutes and play well. We played a good 35 minutes against Western, but in those other five minutes they scored 15 points,we can’t let teams do that” Zac Bargen said.
Colorado Christian University is split 5-5 overall, but has played four more games than Chadron.
“Their extra games and experience gives them an advantage. Their gym is also one of the smallest places to play and it gets very loud, that’s something we have to overcome as well,” coach Bargen said.
Colorado Christian University averages 65.8 points per game, closer to Chadron’s average, and both teams are close in three point percentage as well. CCU has a .324 shooting percentage and Chadron has a .316 shooting percentage.
The Eagles also travel during the winter break. Both the men and women teams travel to Denver on Saturday, Dec. 15 to play Regis University. Then on Sunday, both teams will face Metro State University in their second RMAC game of the weekend. The women basketball players will have a game on New Year’s Eve in Wayne against the Wayne Wildcats. The first games of the year will be played at home for both men and women, on Friday, Jan. 4 and Saturday, Jan. 5. Friday’s game will be against Fort Lewis College and the Eagles will face Adams State College on Saturday. Both games are against RMAC opponents.