Paxton Ritchey-CSC Sports Information
LAREDO, Tex. – Trey Ballard scored a CSC career-high 15 points, Trey Harris added 12 and the Chadron State Eagles defeated Texas A&M International 72-68 on Friday night from the TAMIU Convocation Center.
The win is the first at Chadron State and in Division II for head coach Chris Francis, as the Eagles move to 1-0 on the season. Texas A&M International, which got its season underway last weekend, falls to 1-3.
It’s an early statement win for the Eagles, who were picked 15th and last in the RMAC Preseason Poll but have now defeated a regional opponent in the Dustdevils, who were projected to finish sixth in the 16-team Lone Star Conference.
The Eagles trailed by one point at halftime, as the game featured six ties and three lead changes, with all lead changes coming in the second half. Chadron State took the lead for good with 3:25 to play, outscoring the Dustdevils 11-4 over the final four minutes of game time to pull out the win.
Chadron State shot 45.5 percent from the field (25-55), 21.4 percent from three (3-14) and 86.4 percent from the line (19-22). TAMIU lost despite a better shooting night, making 45.8 percent of their field goals and 33.3 percent of threes. However, the Dustdevils made just 18 of 30 free-throw attempts.
The Eagles dominated the glass, collecting 36 rebounds to TAMIU’s 19. Zy Wright led CSC with nine rebounds while Ballard grabbed five and Harris and Darrius Miles had four apiece. The Eagles also had 38 points in the paint compared to the hosts’ 30.
Chadron State gave minutes to 11 players over the course of the game, with nine players receiving 15 minutes or more and no player recording over 30 minutes. Ballard led the Eagles with 28 minutes played despite coming off the bench.
Texas A&M International immediately jumped out to a 6-0 lead, but the Eagles were undeterred. Trey Harris, a transfer from New Mexico Junior College, hit a three-pointer for CSC’s first points of the 2024-25 season. Later in the first half, Harris recorded back-to-back layups to tie the score at 18-18.
The Dustdevils led by as many as seven on multiple occasions with under five minutes to go in the first half, but the Eagles closed to within one by the break. A 7-0 run with a Ballard layup, Zy Wright layup and Wright three-pointer tied the score at 27-27 with 2:36 left in the first half.
The teams traded baskets to get to 31-31 before TAMIU made 1 of 2 free throws with seven seconds left in the half to take a one-point, 32-31 lead to the locker room.
Chadron State took the lead for the first time in the entire game with 6:59 left to play in the game. Trailing 55-51, the Eagles got a 2-for-2 trip to the line out of Darrius Miles and a 1-for-2 trip out of Wright before Ballard forced a steal and converted a fastbreak layup at the other end to make it 56-55.
The Dustdevils answered with a 6-0 run to take a 61-56 lead, but again, the Eagles countered by getting to the line and converted. Jalen Thomas went 2-for-2 and Treyson Neff went 3-for-3 from the stripe to cut the lead to 64-61.
Jaylen Davis converted a layup, then got a steal on the Dustdevils ensuing possession, feeding John Jenkins on the fastbreak for a 65-64 Eagles advantage. CSC made enough plays down the stretch, including a sequence where the Dustdevils missed both free throws and the Eagles immediately followed with a dunk out of an inbounds play.
For Texas A&M International, Anthony Ignowski scored 24 points in the loss, shooting 8-for-10 from the field and 6-for-11 from the line.
The Eagles will stay in the Lone Star State for a game Saturday evening against Texas A&M-Kingsville. Tip-off against the Javelinas is set for 5 p.m. Mountain time.