(Kaleb Center, CSC Sports Information)
The Chadron State College basketball teams’ final road trip of the season also will be the shortest.
The Eagles are to visit South Dakota Mines in Rapid City on Thursday night, Feb. 17. The double-header will tip off at 5:30.
The Hardrockers visited Chadron State on Jan. 22 with the Eagles women winning 89-82 in the highest scoring game of the season for both teams, but the Mines men squeezed out a 65-62 victory.
Since then, the CSC women have won 63-61 over Adams State but dropped the remaining six games, one of them 77-74 in overtime to CSU-Pueblo. The men have won two nail-biters, edging Metro State in Denver 78-76 in overtime and Colorado State-Pueblo 88-86 at home, and have lost three times, one of them to Adams State 59-58.
CSC’s women are 7-16 for the season and 6-12 in conference play. They lost to Black Hills State 58-46 in Chadron on Tuesday night.
The CSC men also were to host the Yellow Jackets, but that game was postponed because flu-like symptoms were affecting a few Eagles. Coach Shane Paben said Wednesday his team should have at least eight players available Thursday night and plans to make the trip to Rapid City.
Paben added that he hopes the game with Black Hills can be made up next Monday or Tuesday night. The CSC men are 9-15 overall and 5-11 in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference.
Following their trip to Chadron, the Lady Rockers defeated New Mexico Highlands, Colorado-Colorado Springs and Colorado Christian and are now 4-20 for the season and 4-14 in conference play. Their top scorer is senior Ryan Weiss with a 12.7-point average. She’s the school’s all-time leader in 3-pointers, but freshman Piper Bauer has made 55 treys this season, three more than Weiss’s total this winter.
After playing the Eagles on Jan. 22, the Mines men lost their next five games before edging Colorado Christian 81-78 last Saturday night, when redshirt freshman Walter Brevin tallied 38 points, 18 of them at the free throw line.
Brevin is averaging 16.6 points a game, point guard Alejandro Rama is at 15.2 and center Kolton Mortensen 14.3.
The Hardrockers are 8-16 overall and 6-12 in the RMAC.
The Chadron State men are led in scoring by guards CJ Jennings at 14.3 points a game and Marcus Jefferson at 12.7. Redshirt freshman forward Shay Powers paces the CSC women with a 14.0 per game average. Junior guard Samiyah Worrell is next at 11.1.