by DENVER, Colo. – The South Dakota Mines men’s basketball team finished up its opening weekend of RMAC play at Regis University on Saturday evening.
South Dakota Mines rode a balanced offensive attack to a double-digit lead early in the second half and never took their foot off the gas, picking up the weekend sweep to open RMAC play and their third straight win by a score of 81-64. With the win, they move to 4-4 overall and 2-0 in RMAC play.
How It Happened
The two teams started the game going back and forth but a four-point play by Cameron Cohn followed by a Kolton Frugoli layup gave the Hardrockers a 13-8 advantage at the first media timeout. The two teams would continue to battle, but the Hardrockers led 23-21 with 7:49 to play in the half. Late in the first half, South Dakota Mines would get rolling. First, Keagen Smith would hit a three, followed by a pair of buckets by Abel Hutchinson, and then an Alejandro Rama layup, building a double-digit lead at 35-24. Going into the half, SDM held a 41-33 advantage. Keagen Smith led in scoring with 10, while Rama had eight and Abel Hutchinson had seven along with Cameron Cohn. Rama added three assists, two steals and a block. Hutchinson and Bruns added four boards.
Early in the second half, Rama would get going with a behind-the-back dribble leading to a made-contested mid-range shot followed by a three-pointer to give South Dakota Mines a 46-38 lead. The Hardrockers would continue to roll, taking a 16-point lead, 60-44 after a Kolton Frugoli three-pointer. Two free throws from Hutchinson gave the Hardrockers a 68-49 lead with 8:45 to play. Regis would start to work back in though, scoring seven in a row and cutting the Hardrockers’ lead to 68-56 after a Trey Bryant three. South Dakota Mines would continue to stay in control, however, getting back-to-back baskets from Frugoli and Rama, pushing the lead back to 16, 74-58 and then 76-58 after a pair of free throws by Cohn with just 4:50 to go in the game. There was no stopping the SDM offense on this night as Rama would hit a three to give him 20 and extend the lead to 81-64 with under two minutes to play and go on to win, 82-64.
