Eagles get left in the dust

Chadron State men’s basketball team faced teams from the Lone Star State at home, taking its first two losses of the season.

“I think the biggest thing that we’re taking away from the weekend is we have to be more fundamentally sound and not shoot ourselves in the foot offensively with silly turnovers that are unforced,” Shane Paben, head men’s basketball coach, said. “We also have to make sure our rotations on defense are better and just play with a little more intensity on defense.”

CSC started against Texas A&M International University with the lead changing five times throughout the game but were unable to keep the lead at the end, 82-73.

The Eagles drove to cut down the Dustdevils’ lead as the clock counted down.

Chadron State momentarily held onto a one-point lead four and a half minutes into the half following a three-pointer from CJ Jennings, senior of Colorado Springs, Colorado, who returned to the court after being unable to play last year.

“It felt good being back on the court,” Jennings said. “We didn’t get the results we wanted but we’re hoping to learn from our mistakes this past weekend.”

Less than 30 seconds later, the lead was lost to Dustdevil Tyrese Davis, sophomore of Dallas, with a layup in the paint.

The Eagles closed in again with under two minutes left with a good layup from Teddy Parham, Jr., junior of Los Angeles, shortening the point gap to five points.

The Dustdevils were able to break away from the Eagles in the end, taking the win Friday by nine points.

Jennings led the Eagles with 22 points and Parham was second with 14 points. Jennings made four of eight shots from the arc and was nine of 13 for field goals.

Parham was 100% with four shots from the free-throw line. He made two of three shots from the arc and four of seven within the arc. He also led the night with six rebounds for the Eagles, four of which were offensive.

Mason Hiemstra, junior of Alliance, was another Eagle that scored in the double digits with 11 points. He made his only three-point attempt, and he was two of three from the free-throw line and four of nine in the field goal range.

The Eagles returned to the court on Saturday against Texas A&M University-Kingsville and began their season 0-2 in a 10-point loss, 84-74.

Parham led the Eagle with five field goals, two free throws, and three three-pointers for 15 points.

Jennings was close behind with the same number of three-pointers, along with a free throw and four two-pointers for 12 total points. Jennings was the leader for rebounds with seven rebounds, six of them being defensive.

Brady Delimont, senior of Ainsworth, and Porter Anderson, sophomore of Russellville, Arkansas, were two other eagles that reached 11 points. Delimont made three two-point shots, three shots from the arc and two from the free throw line while Anderson made four field goals along with three free throws.

“I think we played nervous opening weekend, which is to be expected but as a whole we need to be more lose out on the court,” Jennings said.

The men’s basketball team ventured to Kearney to play the University of Nebraska-Kearney, 6 p.m., Wednesday.

CSC was trampled by the Lopers 79-58, moving its record to 0-3.

Jennings and Hiemstra tied in the lead for the Eagles with 12 points. Jennings made four of his 11 field goals, two of six shots from the arc and made both of his free-throws.

Jennings also led in rebounds with four, two of each.

Hiemstra made four shots for two-points and four shots from the free-throw line.

The Eagles travel to Sioux Falls, South Dakota to play the University of Sioux Fall at 6 p.m., Friday.