Con Marshall
LAKEWOOD, Colo. – Chadron State men’s basketball couldn’t overcome a slow start, as Colorado Christian defeated the Eagles 76-60 Tuesday night in Lakewood, Colorado.
Both teams are Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference members, but the game does not count in the league standings. They’ll meet again in Chadron on Feb. 6 for the contest that counts. Both entered Friday night’s game with 2-3 records, so the Eagles drop to 2-4 with the loss.
The Cougars jumped out to a 9-0 lead and and remained ahead the entire way. Chadron State was unable to score for nearly six minutes before forward Trey Ballard broke the ice with a layup.
Ballard, a 6-foot-3 senior, was the game’s leading scorer with 18 points. Ballard shot seven-of-11 shooting from the field, including a pair of 3-pointers, and made two free throws. Dalton Peterson and Zy Wright each added nine points for the Eagles while Jalen Thomas and Julio Phipps finished with seven apiece.
After Chadron State fell behind 9-0 and 16-6, the difference hovered between nine and 14 points during the remainder of the half. The score was 32-22 at intermission. Twice midway in the second half, Chadron State whittled the margin down to five points—44-39 and 48-43—but the Eagles could never completely catch the Cougars.
A pair of sophomores paced Colorado Christian in scoring. Bobby McWard was five-of-nine from 3-point range while scoring 17 points, and CJ Barnes made seven of his eight field goal shots and ended up with 15 points.
After going 13 of 30 from the field in the first half, the Cougars were 16 of 24 in the second half, to total 29 field goals in 54 attempts for 53.7 percent. Chadron State made 7 of 17 shots from the field in the opening half, improved to 13 of 27 in the second 20 minutes, and were 20-44 overall for 45.5 percent.
Both Chadron State basketball teams will be back in action on Saturday (Nov. 30) at home against long-time rival Nebraska-Kearney. The women’s game will tip off at 3 p.m. with the men’s game to follow. The Eagles will launch their RMAC schedules by hosting South Dakota Mines on Thursday, Dec. 5, starting at 5 p.m.