GOLDEN, Colo. – The Adams State Grizzlies Men's Basketball team suffered a tough loss Friday night against their RMAC rivals, the Colorado School of Mines Orediggers on the road 64-90. The loss snapped the Grizzlies two-game roll and now drops them to 0-8 on the road for the 2019-20 season.
 
The story of the night was the Grizzlies' shooting woes that unlike Friday night in a win against Chadron, the Grizzlies could not shake. The Oredigger defense keyed in to shut down top scorer Juwan Green, as the guard had a tough night with just 9 points, going 4-11 from the field. As a team, the Grizzlies shot just 37.9% (22-58) on the night, and a measly 2-16 from three point range.
 
Coming into the game, the Grizzlies who currently have no players over 6 foot 4 on the roster had held their own on the offensive and defensive glass, but Friday night was a different story, as the Grizzlies were outrebounded 45 to 26. The Orediggers were able to rack up 15 second chance points on the offensive boards, and shooting over 50% from the field, they handed the Grizzlies their fifth RMAC loss of the year.
 
The bright spot for the Grizzlies was consistent seniors Rickey Norris and Szymon Walczak, who started the game and gave the Grizzlies 27 and 26 quality minutes. Norris turned in a nice night with 14 points and 7 rebounds as well as a pair of steals, while Walczak led all Grizzly scorers with 16 points to go along with 5 rebounds of his own. Coming off the bench in a handful of games, the combo has been in the starting lineup together the last five contests and have provided hustle and leadership on both ends of the floor.
 
The loss dropped Coach Russ Caton's squad to 3-5 in the RMAC on the 2019-20 season, but there is no reason to panic at this stage of the season. The Grizzlies have shown they are capable of defeating top teams when they defeated New Mexico Highlands at home back on December 7^th, who currently sits tied for second in the hotly contested Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference. They now set their sights on a middle of the pack UCCS team, who won Friday night at home against Fort Lewis. Tip off for tomorrow night's game in Colorado Springs is set for 7:30 PM. Live stream and live stats will be provided by the opposing school's sports information department.