CHADRON, Neb. – Three Eagles scored in double figures as Chadron State men’s basketball survived a late rally to defeat Colorado Mesa 69-67 Saturday evening in Chadron, snapping a 13-game losing streak against the Mavericks.
The win enables CSC to climb back to .500 as the Eagles are 9-9 overall and 5-5 in the RMAC. Colorado Mesa is also 5-5 in RMAC play and 11-7 overall. The Eagles and Mavericks, along with UCCS and CSU Pueblo, are currently in a four-way tie for sixth in the league standings.
Trey Ballard scored 15 points in 30 minutes off the bench to lead the Eagles, who have won two straight and three of their last four. Zy Wright had a well-rounded game with 14 points, nine rebounds and three steals and Julio Phipps added 13 points and five boards.
Jalen Thomas was sneakily just shy of a triple-double, finishing with eight points, eight rebounds and nine assists. The Eagles shot 46.7 percent from the floor, 28.6 percent from three and 63.6 percent (7-11) from the line.
The Mavericks made 43.8 percent of their overall shots, but CSC forced the visitors into a cold shooting night behind the arc as the Mavericks made just 4 of 26 three-point attempts (15.4 percent).
The win is the first by Chadron State over Colorado Mesa since December 5, 2014. The Eagles have had some near misses against CMU at the Chicoine Center in recent years, as each of the previous two meetings in Chadron between the two schools had gone to overtime.
The Eagles made just enough plays down the stretch to avoid the same fate this time. Chadron State took an early 11-6 lead, but the Mavericks answered with a 12-0 run to lead 18-11. The Eagles found a run of their own, with jumpers from Jalen Thomas and Julio Phipps, a Thomas steal that led to a Phipps fastbreak dunk and a pull-up Zy Wright three-pointer turning the tide for the hosts, 20-18.
From there, Chadron State seemingly had a one-to-two-possession lead for nearly the rest of the game. Colorado Mesa never took the lead, but the Eagles didn’t have more than a seven-point advantage in the first half and went to the locker room up by two at 35-33.
Chadron State’s largest lead of the entire night came with just under two minutes to go as a Wright three followed by layups from Ballard and Thomas turned a 59-57 lead into a nine-point cushion at 66-57 with 1:45 to play.
The Mavericks, however, were not done. Colorado Mesa had entered the game winning three consecutive games all by two points or less, and they had designs on another narrow victory. A steal and quick layup on a CSC inbounds pass made it 66-60, and after a couple Ballard free throws, the Mavericks got two baskets sandwiched around a five-second violation by CSC to cut the lead to four.
After the Eagles missed the front end of a one-and-one, CMU’s Ty Allred hit a three to trim the Eagles lead to one at 68-67 with two seconds left. Phipps was fouled and went to the line, and the New Yorker made the first free throw and missed the second.
Lacking a timeout, CMU had to heave the ball the full length of the court at the buzzer and missed, preserving the two-point win.
Chadron State will need to maintain its momentum against a pair of regional rivals. The Eagles hit the road this Tuesday to face South Dakota Mines before returning to Chadron Thursday to face Black Hills State at 7 p.m. in the Chicoine Center.