Late First Half Drought Costly For CSC Men

Photo Courtesy/Carter Hattery/CSC Sports Information

 Metro State of Denver outscored Chadron State 15-2 in the last five minutes of the first half while building a 41-32 halftime margin and went on to defeat the homestanding Eagles 78-68 in a Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference men’s basketball game Friday night.

The Eagles led 30-26 before missing its last five field goal attempts of the half, allowing the Roadrunners to build their intermission advantage.

Chadron State cut the deficit to 46-43 in the first 4 ½ minutes of the second half, saw the margin grow to 13 points, whittled the difference to 70-65 with 2:56 to play, but was outscored eight to three from then on.

The Roadrunners, now 17-10 overall and 11-10 in the RMAC, were led by 6-foot-7 sophomore Laolu Oke with 20 points and 10 rebounds while guard Keys Dixon bagged three 3-pointers while scoring 12 points and Ra’Shawn Langston added 10.  Three more Metro players managed at least eight points.

The Eagles were paced by their big man, also a 6-7 sophomore, Porter Anderson with 18 points and 12 rebounds.  Guards Teddy Parham and Marcus Jefferson tallied 15 and 13 points, respectively, and CJ Jennings added eight.

Metro shot above 50 percent from the field in each half and finished with 31 field goals in 58 attempts for 53.4%, including going 7-of-15 from 3-point range. The Eagles finished 24-of-52 from the field for 46.2%, that included 6-of-21 from behind the arc.

The other stats were close. Chadron State was 14-of-21 and Metro 9-of-14 at the foul line. The Roadrunners claimed 33 rebounds, two more than the Eagles. Metro had 12 turnovers, the CSC 13.

Now 9-17 for the season and 5-13 in the conference, the Eagles will wrap up the season Saturday night by hosting Colorado Christian.  RMAC leader Black Hills State had to go into overtime Friday night to beat the Cougars 90-81 in Spearfish.  Christian guards DJ McDonald and Ross Williams combined for 49 points.  Black Hills standout Joel Scott tallied 41.

                Metro State—Laolu Oke 20, Keys Dixon 12, Ra’Shawn Langston 10, Keiren Brown 9, Tyrei Randall 8, Maris Colton 8, Ghage Kenan 5, Miles Gibson 4, Jake Christman 2. Totals: 31-58 (7-15) 9-14 78 points, 33 rebounds, 21 assists, 12 turnovers.
                Chadron State—Porter Anderson 18, Teddy Parham 15, Marcus Jefferson 13, CJ Jennings 8, KJ Harris 5, Taj Toney 5, Mason Hiemstra 2, Beau Bragg 2.  Totals: 24-52 (6-21) 14-21 68 points, 31 rebounds, 16 assists, 13 turnovers.

Metro State              41           37        —78
                Chadron State           32          36        —68

                3-pointers: MS-D—Dixon 3, Langston, Randall, Brown, Kenan, all 1. CSC—Jefferson 2, Parham, Jennings, Harris, Toney, all 1.