Paxton Ritchey-CSC Sports Information
GUNNISON, Colo. – Chadron State shot 50 percent from the field and two Eagles recorded double-doubles as CSC snapped a four-game road losing streak with a 79-62 win over Western Colorado at the “highest collegiate gym in the world” in Gunnison.
Zy Wright scored 17 points, 11 in the second half, along with 10 rebounds for his third double-double of the season and second in Chadron State’s last three games. Julio Phipps recorded his second double-double of the year with 10 points and a game-high 12 rebounds, spearheading a 43-31 advantage for the Eagles on the glass overall.
With the win, Chadron State improves to 13-12 overall and 9-8 in the RMAC. The Eagles are still alone in eighth place in the RMAC standings, two games ahead of ninth-place Colorado Christian at 7-10 and one game behind multiple teams at 10-7.
Wright shot 6 of 13 from the field while sinking two three-pointers and all three of his free throws, adding on two steals and three assists to his double-double. Phipps, who grabbed eight of his 12 rebounds in the first half, had five offensive boards among that tally.
Wright and Phipps were two of five Eagles in double figures on the night. Jalen Thomas and Trey Ballard both finished with 14 points apiece, with Thomas shooting 5-for-10 from the field while Ballard was a near-perfect 6-for-7. Thomas and Ballard joined Dalton Peterson (4-7 FG, 11 points) and Jaylen Davis (4-6 FG, nine points) as Eagles to shoot 50 percent or better from the floor over the course of the game.
The two teams jockeyed for the lead early, with a 5-4 WCU lead turning into a 9-5 CSC advantage thanks to a Darrius Miles dunk and a Dalton Peterson three. With the Eagles up 17-16, Western went on an 8-0 scoring run to take a seven-point lead at 24-17 with 10:53 left in the first half.
As it turned out, that would be Western’s largest and last lead of the contest. The Eagles answered with a lightning-fast 10-0 scoring run with makes on their next four field goal attempts. Wright hit a three to kick things off before the Eagles pushed the pace, collecting a Thomas layup, Peterson three and Jaylen Davis layup, all on the fastbreak, to take a 27-24 lead. CSC outscored Western 18-10 on the fastbreak for the game.
The Eagles pushed the lead up to 10 in the first half when Trey Ballard hit a three and a layup on back-to-back possessions to make it 42-32 with two minutes to play, although Western cut into the lead some with the two teams heading to halftime at 44-39.
A Mountaineers three-pointer cut the lead to two out of the locker room, but that would be as close as the home team would get for the rest of the game. Chadron State slowly built the lead over the rest of the half, as the Eagles were up by seven with 15 minutes to play, up by 10 with 12 to play and up by 15 with five minutes to go before taking their largest lead of the night at 79-60 with 1:30 left, just over the 17-point final margin. In the second half, Chadron State shot 55.6 percent from the field while their opponents managed only 27.6 percent after halftime.
For the game, the Eagles were 50 percent even from the field (30-60), 41.2 percent from three (7-17) and 76.9 percent from the line (10-13). Western Colorado, who fell to 6-18 and 4-13 in the RMAC with the loss, was 34.4 percent from the field and also shot worse than the Eagles from deep (21.9 percent, 7-32) and the line (72.2 percent, 13-18).
The Eagles outscored WCU in points in the paint 42-24, second chance points 17-11 and bench points 25-16.
Chadron State will play its final regular season road game of the season this Saturday when the Eagles take on the Westminster Griffins (12-13, 6-11 RMAC), who lost to Black Hills State on Thursday. Tip-off is set for 3 p.m.