By Con Marshall
    The Chadron State College men’s basketball team meets regular season champion Colorado Mesa University tonight at 7:30 in Grand Junction, CO, in the first round of the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Tournament.
The Eagles are the 8th seed with a 9-13 conference record and a 12-16 season mark. Top-seeded Mesa finished the regular season 25-3 overall and 21-1 in the RMAC with their only conference loss was to Fort Lewis 87-79 at home on Jan. 26.
Chadron State and Mesa played once in the regular season with the Mavericks taking a 102-95 win in overtime.
CSC guard Jarrett Taylor hit a 3-pointer from the top of the key just before time ran out to tie the score at 75-75, but 12 Mesa free throws in the extra session were too many to overcome.
Coach Shane Paben’s CSC team went 2-7 in February, but 4 of the losses were by 7 or fewer points and 2 others were in overtime, including last Saturday’s season finale at Black Hills State.
If Mesa wins tonight, they will host the semifinals and finals on Friday and Saturday. If the Eagles pull the upset, the highest-surviving seed after tonight’s games will host.
The men’s other first-round pairing are CSU-Pueblo at #2 Fort Lewis, Regis at #3 Colorado Mines and Metro State at #4 Black Hills State.
The RMAC Women’s Tournament also begins tonight. That schedule has Pueblo at #1 Colorado Mesa preceding the CSC men’s game, Colorado Christian at #2 Regis, Black Hills State at #3 Adams State and Colorado Mines at #4 CSU-Pueblo.
As with the men, the highest remaining seed after tonight’s games will host the semifinals and finals this Friday and Saturday. The tournament champions receive the RMAC’s automatic bid to the NCAA Division II National Tournaments.