Eagles clinch RMAC tournament berth

By Eben Rosentrater – Sports Editor

The year was 2012 the last time the CSC men’s basketball team clinched a spot in the RMAC tournament.

After two of the team’s strongest performances on the road Friday and Saturday, the Eagles are headed back to the conference tournament later in the month.

Despite struggling on the road this season, the Eagles were able to rally against both the New Mexico Highlands Cowboys on Friday and the CSU-Pueblo Thunderwolves on the following Saturday.

Friday’s game showed trouble for the Eagles in the beginning. Chadron State trailed the Cowboys by double-digits after 10 minutes of play.

However, the shots began to fall for the Eagles. The team was able to rally back to tie the game 31-31 before the first half was over.

In the second half, the Eagles showed their dominance. The Cowboy defense was completely overrun, allowing Chadron to shoot .655 from the field.

Chadron State went on to score nearly double the points compared to the Cowboys in the second half, scoring 45 to NMHU’s 23.

This allowed the Eagles to run away with the game, winning 76-54.

The game against the Cowboys was a strong team effort. Five different Eagles scored double-digit point totals.

However, Chadron State’s strongest performance came from Josh Robinson, junior of Paris, Texas, who scored 18 points, shooting .692 from the field.

Saturday’s game was far closer throughout for the Eagles, but the team was able to come away with an overtime victory.

The Eagles narrowly trailed the Thunderwolves for nearly all of the first half.

However, with about three minutes left in the first half, the Eagles went on an 11-point run, which was capped off by a 3-point buzzer-beater from CSC guard Bryce Latimer, junior of Stone Mountain, Georgia.

CSC led the Thunderwolves by seven going into halftime.

However, the Thunderwolves battled back in the second half, cutting their deficit slowly throughout the half.

The hot hand of Latimer is what kept the Eagles in front until the end of regulation.

The game was tied at 75 going into the overtime period. Latimer led the Eagles scoring 11 of their 14 points in overtime.

The Thunderwolves scored 10 points in overtime, allowing the Eagles to win 89-85, sealing their eighth straight victory and an RMAC tournament spot.

Latimer led the Eagles against the Thunderwolves, shooting .538 from the field and .750 from the free-throw line. He scored 32 points, his second 30-point game in the last six games.

Right behind him was Isaiah Wyatt, junior of Fort Worth, Texas, who scored 19 points, shooting .600 from the field. 

He scored five 3-pointers, shooting .714 from behind the arc, allowing him to climb to fifth in 3-pointer percentage in NCAA Division II rankings.

The Eagles return to the court when they travel to Denver to take on the MSU Denver Roadrunners, at 7 p.m. Friday.