GOLDEN, Colo. – Adams State Men's Basketball saw its season come to end Tuesday night as the team fell to Colorado School of Mines in the first round of the RMAC Tournament.
The Grizzlies (11-17) ran with the No. 1 seeded Orediggers (25-4) for the majority of the game but a late surge proved to be too much in the loss.
The Grizzlies got out to fast start against the Orediggers as
Davere Creighton scored the Grizzlies first eight points to help them jump out to an 8-4 lead.
Colorado School of Mines answered with a 5-0 run to grab a 9-8 run but once again Adams State had an answer scoring eight straight points to lead 18-9. Despite the surge, the two teams battled back-and-forth for the rest of the half.
The aggressive offensive play from both squads made for an entertaining first half. The Grizzlies trailed 41-37 going into the break but outshot the Orediggers 53.6%-47.1%. Helping the Orediggers grab a four-point lead was an 8-17 shooting performance from three-point range while holding the Grizzlies to 1-6 from deep.
The second half continued to be a battle but the Orediggers had shots fall late to avoid being upset in the first round. The scored 41 points and held the Grizzlies to 33 to win by 12 at home. Helping the home team in the second half was 14 points off the bench while the visitors had none.
An 11-4 run from the Grizzlies help them grab a 48-45 lead in the first three minutes of play to start the second half.
John Dewey led the scoring charge with five points while a Creighton jumper gave the team its lead against the Orediggers.
Once again both teams continued to trade buckets the rest of the way as it back a battle for offensive supremacy. The Orediggers kept pace with the Grizzlies but the visitors had answer nearly every time. A layup from
Rickey Norris with 14:08 to play gave the Grizzlies a 54-51 lead.
The Grizzlies lead was the short lived as the Orediggers went on a 7-0 run to lead by three, 58-55. They never relinquished the lead the rest of the game.
Adams State once again had the better percentage in the second half shooting 48.3%, while Colorado School of Mines shot 44.4%. Dewey led the scoring charge with 18 points and dished out five assists. Creihgton added 17 points and grabbed eight rebounds. Norris posted a double-double with 14 points and 13 boards. Szymon Walzak chipped in 10 points to round out the double figure scoring.
Ben Sonnefeld led the Orediggers with a game-high 20 points on 6-10 shooting. Mason Baker was not far behind with 16 points and a team-high four assists. Joe Miks scored 14 points and was 4-6 from three-point range. Michael Glen added 13 points to round out the double-digit scoring.
