By Con Marshall BOX SCORE
It certainly wasn’t because of lack of effort or an inept performance, but the Chadron State College men’s basketball suffered another heart-breaking defeat Friday night during a fast-paced, physical Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference game in the Chicoine Center at CSC.
It was the Eagles’ fifth consecutive loss by five or fewer points or in overtime.
Metro State’s Quave Propst-Allison hit a 3-pointer as the first half was ending to put his team ahead 47-43. The Roadrunners maintained the lead in the second half, when each team tallied 41 points, making the final score 88-84.
The outcome was vital to both. With just three games remaining on the regular season slates, Metro is 17-8 overall and Chadron State is 11-14. More importantly, the Denver team is 11-8 and the Eagles are 8-11 in the RMAC.
The Roadrunners pulled ahead by nine points twice around the 13-minute mark. Chadron State continued to battle and drew within a single point twice at 70-69 and 72-71 with just over nine minutes remaining. The Eagles also made it 77-76 with 5:16 to play, but could never tie the count or take the lead.
The difference was never more than four points during the final four minutes. But every time the Eagles cut it the margin to two points, Metro would find a way to build it back to four.
Each team missed two field goal attempts during a 44-second stretch as the clock was winding down with the opponent always grabbing the ensuing rebounds.
With 18 seconds remaining, the Eagles were forced to foul to stop the clock. The Roadrunners’ Brayden Maldonado made both free throws. Chadron State’s Bryce Latimer answered with two shots from the line with four seconds left, to make the score 86-84, but Maldonado was fouled again as soon as the ball was put in play, and he closed out the scoring with two more charity shots.
Maldonado, a 6-foot sophomore, led Metro with 19 points while both Propst-Allison and Ryan Maslow added 16 points. Caleb McGill also had 12 and Mario Lacy Jr. 10 for the Denver team.
Chadron State’s Josh Robinson was the game’s top scorer with 20 points and leading rebounder with eight. Latimer scored 19 points, John Jenkins 16, Raul Nunez 10 and Porter Anderson nine for the Eagles.
Each team came within in one field goal of shooting 50% from the field. The Roadrunners were 32-of-66 and the Eagles 29-of-60. Each made six 3-pointers. Chadron State was 20-of-25 at the line and Metro 18-of-28.
The Ealges had 15 turnovers and Metro seven, but the hosts won the rebounding battle 40-34.
The Eagles will wrap up their home schedule tonight (Saturday) by playing Colorado Mines. The Orediggers were to play at Colorado ChristianFriday night, but the game didn’t take place because a backboard was damaged during warmups.
Metro State—Braydon Maldonado 19, Quave Propst-Allison 16, Ryan Maslow 16, Caleb McGill 12, Mario Lacy Jr. 10, Luke Jones 7, KJ Garrett 6, Caden Holmes 2. Totals: 32-66 (6-17) 18-28 88 points, 34 rebounds, 7 turnovers, 12 assists.
Chadron State—Josh Robinson 20, Bryce Latimer 19, John Jenkins 16, Raul Nunez 10, Porter Anderson 9, Jalen Paterson 3, Dalton Peterson 3, Martin Poznanovic 2, Jarrett Taylor 2. Totals: 29-60 (6-21) 20-25 84 points, 40 rebounds, 15 turnovers, 15 assists.
Metro State 47 41 —88
Chadron State 43 41 —84
3-pointers: MSU—Maslow 2, McGill, Maldonado, Propst-Allison, Jones, all 1. CSC—Jenkins 2, Nunez 2, Peterson, Patterson, both 1.