Paxton Ritchey-CSC Sports Information
DENVER – Reigning RMAC Offensive Player of the Week Jalen Thomas scored 22 points, but another three points that didn’t make it to the box score ended up being the story in a 73-71 loss to MSU Denver Thursday evening.
After MSU Denver missed a one-and-one free throw with three seconds left, Thomas dribbled up the court and launched a shot from the halfcourt line that banked through the net and momentarily gave the Eagles an improbable road win.
However, a lengthy video replay review determined that Thomas didn’t release the shot in time and the basket was overturned, handing a two-point victory back to the host Roadrunners. The no-basket nullified what would have been a double-digit comeback for the Eagles, who ultimately never led in the game but rallied from 11 points down with 10:12 to go.
Thomas, who scored CSC’s final two baskets of the game before the last-second shot, recorded his sixth 20-point game of the season and added five rebounds and a season-high five steals, the most in a single game by any CSC player this season.
Zy Wright earned his second double-double of the season with 10 points and 11 rebounds while 6-foot-11 Darrius Miles scored 17 points, shot 7 of 11 from the floor and made all three of his three-point attempts.
Denied a fourth straight win, Chadron State is now 12-11 overall and 8-7 in the RMAC. MSU Denver, which started 8-0 in RMAC play but had lost four of six entering Thursday night’s game, is now 17-6 overall and 11-4 in conference.
Thanks to results around the league, Chadron State is tied with Colorado Mesa for seventh and eighth place in the RMAC standings, the final two RMAC Tournament positions. The Eagles have a two-game lead over ninth-place Colorado Christian (6-9) with five games to play and are just one game back of a three-team tie for fourth place between 9-6 Fort Lewis, Black Hills State and UCCS.
The Eagles shot 45.5 percent from the field and made 4 of 15 three-pointers. The Eagles were uncharacteristically not sharp from the free throw line, making only 7 of 13 attempts. MSU Denver shot 44.8 percent from the field and made 10 of 29 threes.
In the first half, MSU Denver opened up an 18-11 lead, but Chadron State closed the gap with a 10-3 run featuring six points from John Jenkins to tie the score at 21-21. From there, however, MSU Denver began to catch fire from deep, scoring five made field goals in a row from beyond the arc to end the first half up by double digits, 42-31.
The hosts maintained that margin for the first part of the second half, but Chadron State refused to go away. With about nine minutes to play, Miles hit a three and Trey Ballard tallied back-to-back baskets to trim the lead to three points at 57-54.
The Roadrunners climbed back up by six at 68-62, but with four minutes left, a Thomas steal led to a Julio Phipps layup in transition before a quick MSUD miss and another Miles three cut the lead to one again. With 27 seconds to go, Roadrunners forward Caleb McGill scored to give MSU Denver a 71-67 lead, but the Roadrunners simply couldn’t guard Thomas the rest of the way.
The redshirt senior drove down the court in six seconds for a layup to make it 71-69. Trey Ballard nearly tied it by stealing the inbounds pass, but his contested jumper missed, and a jump ball on the loose ball gave possession to the Roadrunners, who were then fouled and hit two free throws with 11 seconds left.
Thomas hustled down the court again for a pull-up midrange to cut it to 73-71 with four seconds left. Out of a timeout, the Eagles fouled McGill and sent the forward to the line for a one-and-one free throw with three ticks on the clock, leading to the game-deciding moment.
Chadron State will face the RMAC’s leading team on Saturday, No. 8/10-ranked Colorado School of Mines (20-3, 14-1 RMAC). Tipoff is slated for 3 p.m. in Golden, Colorado.