Highlands’ Cowboys wrangle Eagles, 89-86
After a ten-hour bus ride, Chadron State’s men’s basketball team prepared to face the New Mexico Highlands’ Cowboys in an RMAC game. Little did they know that the game would last ten minutes longer than usual. The Cowboys were able to seal the hard-earned, 89-86 victory on Friday night.
Highlands scored the first points of the game with a pair of free throws, but CSC quickly gained the lead off of a three-point shot by junior forward of Chadron, Zac Bargen. The Eagles led most of the first half, until the Cowboys tied it up with two and a half minutes left to play on more free throws after a foul by Kendrick Holliman, sophomore forward of Spanish Fort, Ala. Helping out the Cowboys was Augustus French, who scored a triple double with 16 points, 10 rebounds and 12 blocks. He was 100 percent on his free throws, which helped the team after the two overtime.
Two Eagle players ended the night with career-high point numbers. Bargen made 33 points, 18 of those coming from behind the three-point line. Kyle Vinich, sophomore forward of Casper, Wyo., scored a total of 19 points and had two steals. Also scoring in double digits was David Downey, junior guard of Scottsbluff, with a total of 15 points.
The Eagles lost the lead in the final minute of regulation game when Highlands’ Mannie Cass was fouled by Bargen at the three-point line, and he swished all three shots.
In the first overtime, Bargen and Downey were quick to launch some three pointers in the beginning, but the Cowboys fought back and tied it once again 79-79, with another pair of free throws, to lead into the second overtime.
In the second half, the action was much the same. Chadron came out quick to score, but sent French to the charity stripe once again. After a turnover on the Eagles’, Highlands was able to score a 3 pointer and a layup on the next posession, making the score 88-83, and Bargen responded with his final three pointer of the game. However, they couldn’t come up with anymore points, losing the game 89-86.
“We were disappointed because it was so close but they came together and played as a team which was good,” Head Coach Brent Bargen said. “Seeing how close they were to winning made them see how they can win and made them hungrier for a win.”
Looking for redemption, the Eagles took on Western N.M. on Saturday. For the whole first half, the teams fought and battled and had eight total lead changes. Western N.M. was the first on the board with a layup from Lucio Luttrell, but Chadron quickly responded with a good shot in the paint from Bargen. After a few more consecutive jumpers, CSC led 7-2 two minutes into the game. However, Western responded with a three pointer by Chad Carter, and the teams battled from there.
Chadron led going into the second half 35-34, but a quick tip in for the Mustangs gave them the lead they needed. The second half only featured one tie as the Mustangs led the rest of the way, as they soared to the 75-65 victory.
Chadron led in field goal shooting percentage by a margin of .7 percent, and the Mustangs outshot the Eagles from behind the three point line by 7.6 percent. Top scorer for the Mustangs was Chad Carter with 24 points and he also had two blocks and three steals. Leading for Chadron once again was Bargen, this time with 20 points and three assists. Chadron now advances into the week 1-14 overall, 1-10 in the RMAC.
Chadron takes on Colorado State University-Pueblo on Friday and University of Colorado-Colorado Springs on Saturday. Both are scheduled to start at 8 p.m. in Armstrong and both are RMAC games.