CSC men fight till the end

Chadron State College fell to Westminster, 65-60 Saturday in Salt Lake City. Despite the early lead that the Eagles men’s basketball team grabbed, the Griffins took over the game late in the first half and early in the second.  

The Eagles started the first half strong, with two three-pointers by Teddy Parham, Jr., junior of Los Angeles, and two field goals by Jacob Jefferson, junior of Buckeye, Arizona.  

“This is the process of being my first year with the players and coaches, and building trust,” Head Men’s Basketball Coach Shane Paben said, “Instead of coming together, we kind of broke apart, but we didn’t quit. We did fight. We had a chance at the end of the game to make it a one possession game, but that slipped through our fingers.” 

Jacob Jefferson shot nine field goals, making seven. He made two 3-point shots out of four for a total of 16 points and had four rebounds. Teddy Parham, Jr., junior of Los Angeles, tied with Jacob Jefferson with a total of 16 points, making six field goals and four three-point shots.  

Deundra Roberson, junior of Columbia Heights, Minnesota, led the Eagles with five rebounds. Roberson contributed 13 points, making five field goals out of 13, and was the third highest scorer for CSC. 

Westminster player Brayden Johnson, junior of Draper, Utah, passed CSC’s scoring leaders with his season high of 17 points. 

Westminster shot 50% from the field, while CSC shot 42%. Chadron rebounded 27 times, but Westminster reached a total of 33 rebounds. The Eagles lost by one fewer point than they had won, 66-60, when Chadron hosted Westminster on Dec. 11 at the Chicoine Center. 

“The biggest thing we are focusing on, offensively, is getting paint touches and post touches,” Paben said, “It’s well-founded in basketball that if you get the ball in any part of the lane or you get a post touch, we create more close outs, we get better looks from three, and we get baskets at the rim.” 

The Eagles are currently 2-3 following games in December. CSC will host for their next game scheduled for 7:30 p.m. Friday against Western Colorado University. 

“Health and safety are way more prevalent then people attending the games,” Paben said, “So, I will take health and safety every time. It’s a necessary evil during a pandemic.”