CSC men drop to 1-2 in openers
Following a 1-1 home stand to open the season, the Eagles men’s basketball team suffered their first road loss, falling 69-83 to Augustana, Tuesday evening, in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.
The loss drops Chadron to 1-2 after having split games with Texas A&M International and Texas A&M-Kingsville, Friday and Saturday, at home to start their season.
Unlike their previous games against Texas opponents, Chadron got the offense it’s been looking for early in games, Tuesday, with the team hitting 46.9 percent of their field goals and 6-13 three-point shots in the first half. Heading into the second Chadron trailed just 37-38.
Unfortunately for the Eagles, Augustana came out strong, building a nine-point lead just three minutes into the half, which they extended to a high of 21 points late in the game.
Despite the improved offense, Chadron sent Augustana to the line 21 times in the second half. A Viking sank their free-throw 76.7 percent of the time, accounting for 17 points. The Vikings outscored Chadron 36-16 in the paint.
Chadron’s offense was led by Jeremy Ruffin, senior of Chicago, who hit five of seven field goals, a three-pointer and four of six from the line for 15 points. He, along with teammate Charles Gavin, senior of Denver, also led the Eagles with six rebounds. Both Michael Sparks, junior of Denver, and Brady Delimont, sophomore of Ainsworth, scored double-digits in the game, Sparks with 13 points and Delimont with 12.
The Eagles shot 40 percent as a team against Augustana, their second-highest percentage since an opening-game win against International that saw the team shoot 46.7 percent on just 45 shots. Against Augustana the Eagles had 60.
Friday, after a slow start that saw Chadron trailing 24-20 following the first half, the Eagles offense began to come around, scoring 40 in the second half to lead 61-54 at the final buzzer. Gavin had a great season-debut in the game, hitting eight of nine field goals and going three-for-five from the line for 19 points. He also led the team with 11 rebounds, one on offense, and 10 defensively. He was the only Eagle to hit double-digit points in the game.
The Eagles were unable to keep momentum Saturday, however, as another slow start offensively put the team down 32-24 at the half. Chadron would do better to pace the Javelinas through the second, but came up short, trailing 71-59 at game’s end.
Chadron has had a different points leader in each of its first three games this season, with Sparks taking the honors against Kingsville. Sparks led all Eagles by more than 10 points with 18, but hit just six of his 19 field goal attempts and just three of ten three-point shots.
Following Saturday evening’s game, Chadron Head Coach Houston Reed addressed the slow offensive starts.
“We’re trying to find the right mix and the right lineup,” Reed said. “Find the right guys who can give us the best start. We’ve got two injuries right now and had an injury tonight, so it mixed things up. Once we can find the right mix we’ll have more production offensively to start games.”
According to Reed, the team, which features several new faces, has focused on defense in practice, which may partially explain the slow offensive starts.
“It’s not just (the number of) shots, but the quality of shots,” Reed said, breaking down Kingsville’s win Saturday evening. “They probably got more quality shots than we did.
“We’ve got nine new guys in our program right now, so we’re still trying to find things out. We’ve only had about 18 practices and you can see we’ve worked a lot defensively in our practices. Our offensive stuff is going to come and have more polish as the season moves on.”
The Eagles return home to the Chicoine Center tonight, taking on Nebraska-Kearney, at 6:00 p.m. Following Thanksgiving the team will be back on the road for two games in Aberdeen, South Dakota, the first against Sioux Falls Nov. 23, and the second against Northern State Nov. 24.
Tonight’s game against the Lopers will feature a canned food drive sponsored by the CSC Student Athlete Advisory Committee.