Hardrockers crush Eagles, 79-67
Despite both teams scoring 42 points in the second half, South Dakota School of Mines crushed Chadron State men’s basketball team, 79-67, after scoring 12 more points in the first half.
“I feel like we did a decent job for the small roster we had out there,” Teddy Parham, Jr., junior of Los Angeles, said. “They were an aggressive team and well coached but definitely a team we could beat. Little mistakes here and there throughout the game can cost us those games.”
The Eagles went into the second half behind by 14 points and found it difficult to cut down the Hardrockers’ lead, only getting the deficit down to nine points three times.
KJ Harris, junior of McKinney, Texas, brought the Eagles within nine following a three pointer nearly two minutes into the second half and at 13:51 with a good jumper.
Marcus Jefferson, junior of Lewisville, Texas, answered back with a three pointer after the Hardrockers were able to make their own shot from the arc.
Mason Hiemstra, junior of Alliance, was the only Eagle that put up points in the last two minutes of the game with a three pointer and a pair of free throws, putting the team 12 points behind South Dakota Mines by the time the buzzer sounded.
CSC played eight Eagles during Thursday’s game, following the postponement of its home game against Black Hills State University two days before.
“With the small roster we had the last couple games definitely came with adjustments,” Parham said. “Not major ones but tweaks in the offense and the defense to save us as much energy as possible to play out the game. But everyone should be back and healthy for the remainder of the season.”
Parham finished the game with 15 points, being five of 14 for field goals and four of four from the free-throw line.
Close behind was Harris with 14 points and Hiemstra with 13 points.
Jefferson was a rebound away from a double-double night with nine rebounds and ten points.
The Eagles finish their regular season this weekend against Metropolitan State University of Denver and Colorado Christian University, starting at 7:30 p.m., Friday and Saturday.
“I hope to see us fight with pride and protect the rock one last time,” Parham said. “We have had a very long season and unfortunately we can’t change the outcome, but we can end the year on some wins.”