 BY CON MARSHALL
Both Chadron State College basketball teams will be playing home games early this coming week.
The women will host York College at 5:30 Monday (Nov. 20) and the men will greet Bethany College from Lindsborg, Kan., at 3 o’clock Tuesday afternoon.
Before those games are played, the Chadron State men will visit Nebraska-Kearney for a 3 pm Mountain time contest on Saturday (Nov. 18).
The Lopers did not fare well last year. The Chadron State men defeated them 91-72 in Chadron on Nov. 23 while burying 11 of 19 3-point shots. Kearney finished the season with a 5-23 record and was just 3-19 in the Mid-America Athletics Association.
Longtime Head Coach Kevin Lofton has retained a few players from that team while bringing in numerous newcomers. The Lopers will have played just one game when the Eagles arrive. They were nipped 83-81 by a highly-regarded Southern Nazarene team in Bethany, Okla., last Friday night.
Miguel Robles, a 6-foot-3 transfer from Los Angeles, led the Lopers with 24 points while one of the returnees, 6-6 Sean Murphy, a native of New Zealand, scored 18 points and collected nine rebounds.
Kearney outscored Southern Nazarene 71-59 from field, but was just 10-14 at the free throw line while the Oklahoma team was 24-35.
Entering this weekend, the Bethany Swedes had a 1-2 record. They opened the season by defeating Mount Marty College of South Dakota 77-64 before losing to two Iowa teams, Briar Cliff 76-59 and Morningside 72-54. Through the three games, they had shot 41% from the field and 58% from the free throw stripe.
The York College women also were 1-2 entering this week’s action. The Panthers’ victory was by 69-37 over College of St. Mary, the Omaha team that the Eagles defeated 88-64 last Friday night in Chadron.
York led St. Mary 39-10 at halftime.
Since then, York has lost to Doane 98-65 and to Oklahoma Christian 87-43. Britney Schroer, a 5-11 junior, scored 20 of the Bulldogs’ 43 points in the latter game.
After playing the home game on Monday night, the CSC women will play an exhibition game at 11 a.m. Tuesday at the University of Wyoming and get paid for making the trip. The Lady Eagles have frequently visited Laramie for such an early-season encounter. The Cowgirls usually win by about a two-to-one margin in the neighborhood of 100-50.
The CSC women’s team also will play at UNK at 2 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 25 before opening its RMAC schedule by visiting CSU-Pueblo and New Mexico Highlands on Dec. 1 and 2.
Before the Eagles’ men make that trip, too, they will visit the Sioux Falls Cougars for a tilt at the same time the Lady Eagles will be playing in Kearney.