By Con Marshall BOX SCORE
For the second night in a row, the Chadron State College men’s basketball team was exceptional at both ends of the floor and defeated another primary challenger for a place in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference playoffs by a wide margin.
After downing Colorado-Colorado Springs 78-56 on Friday night, the Eagles beat the Regis Rangers 94-71 Saturday night.Â
They made 37 of 57 (65%) field goal attempts and limited the visitors to only 46.6% from the field, and just 34.6% in the first half, when Chadron State built a 43-28 lead.
The wins improved the Eagles’ overall record to 11-8 overall and 8-5 in the conference. Both CSC and Colorado Springs were 7-5 after the Friday night game had been played and Regis was 5-6 entering Saturday night’s contest.Â
The UCCS Mountain Lions also lost to Colorado Christian 74-64 in Denver on Saturday night. Therefore, the two weekend victories improves the Eagles’ grip on fifth place in the RMAC with nine games remaining on CSC regular season schedule.
The Eagles did not start well against Regis. Coach Shane Paben noted that his team initially didn’t focused and turned the ball over seven times almost before they had seven points. But after the Rangers led 8-7 through the first five minutes, Chadron State went on a 20-5 run and never looked back.
Bryce Latimer, who is listed at 5-10 but may be smaller, provided a great spark off the bench. He initially made a layup and soon stole the ball that he fed to teammate MJ Foust for a resounding dunk that put CSC ahead 21-13.
During the final 8:30 minutes of the opening half, Latimer hit five more field goals, most of them driving layups after going one-on-one with a defender, to finish the half with 13 points.That was just the start. While he remained on the bench during the first four minutes of the second half, he finished it with 20 more points while making seven of 10 field goals shots and all six of his free shots.
His 33 points are the most a CSC player has scored since Zac Bargen hit that total in a double overtime game in 10 years ago. Paben called Latimer’s performance “the Bryce Latimer show,” noting that the Stone Mountain, Georgia, native definitely showed off his quickness and ability to finish while going to the basket.
With Latimer leading the way, the Eagles made 18 of 27 field goal attempts in the first half and 19 of 30 in the second half. They were not as accurate as usual from 3-point range, making just four of 12, but made 16 of 19 free throws.
Josh Robinson was the Eagles’ second high scorer with 14 points and Jarrett Taylor was two-of-three from long distance while adding 11 points. Both Porter Anderson and Isaiah Wyatt chipped in with nine and Marcus Jefferson had eight.
Aaron Bokol, a 6-5 senior, paced Regis with 18 points, 6-9 Brayden Carter posted 15 and Eddy Egun 10. With Jefferson defending him most of the time, David Simental, the Rangers’ scoring leader for the season with a 15-point average, did not score until midway in the second half and finished with eight points.
The Eagles’ next game will be Saturday, Jan. 28 at South Dakota Mines in Rapid City.
Regis—Aaron Bokol 18, Brayden Carter 15, Eddy Egun 10, David Simental 8, CJ Reed 8, Jasdeep Singh 4, Vojin Mastilovic 3, Aaron Ofstun 3, Aidan Sevilla 2. Totals: 27-58 (1-13) 16-23 71 points, 28 rebounds, 17 turnovers.
Chadron State—Bryce Latimer 33, Josh Robinson 14, Jarrett Taylor 11, Porter Anderson 9, Isaiah Wyatt 9, Marcus Jefferson 8, MJ Foust 4, Gage Delimont 4, Martin Poznanovic 2. Totals: 37-57 (4-12) 16-19 94 points, 30 rebounds, 13 turnovers.
Regis 28 43 —71
Chadron State 43 51 —94
3-pointers: Regis, Mastilovic 1. CSC—Taylor 2, Jefferson 1, Wyatt 1.