PUEBLO, Colo. – Colorado State University Pueblo men's basketball continued its hot play as the ThunderWolves shot 50 percent from the field and made 10 3-pointers here Friday night in posting a 67-54 victory over South Dakota School of Mines in Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference action at Massari Arena.
Friday's win was the third consecutive for CSU Pueblo as they improved their record to 10-8 overall and moved to .500 in league play with a 6-6 record, while South Dakota Mines fell to 6-12 overall and 5-7 in the league. The victory helped put the Pack into seventh place in the league standings.
The Pack will conclude its three game homestand on Saturday, Jan. 21 with a 7:30 p.m. game against eighth-ranked Black Hills State University. Black Hills State comes into the contest sporting a 15-1 overall record and a 9-1 mark in the RMAC following its 82-57 win Friday at New Mexico Highlands.
Sophomore guard
Lian Ramiro (Aurora, Colo./Grandview) and sophomore forward
Isaiah Thompson (Colorado Springs, Colo./Fountain-Fort Carson) each scored 18 points, while senior forward
Meekness Payne (Phoenix, Ariz./University of New Hampshire) added 12 points in the win. Thompson also pulled down 10 rebounds for his team-leading fifth double-double of the season.
In addition to those three double-digit scorers, freshman guard
Hilmir Hallgrimsson (Reykjavik, Iceland) added eight points off the bench, including a 3-for-3 effort from the field and a 2-for-2 showing from the 3-point line.
Friday's win also helped the Pack extract some revenge on the Hardrockers as South Dakota Mines collected an 81-76 win over the Pack in Rapid City, S.D., on Dec. 16.
The Pack jumped out to a 15-7 lead just a little over eight minutes into the contest, before the Hardrockers responded with a 14-8 run over the next seven minutes of the contest to pull within 23-21.
Following that run by SDM, the Pack would close the first half on a 13-2 run to take a 36-22 lead at the half. The first half closing run began with a lay-up by Thompson and was capped by a trey from Thompson with six seconds left in the half. Thompson scored five of those 13 points, while Hallgrimsson scored four points.
South Dakota Mines opened the second half on a 6-4 run to cut the Pack's halftime lead to 40-28 with 18 minutes left in the game. The Hardrockers would eventually pull within 10 points at 43-33 with 13:26 left in the game.
That run seemed to ignite the Pack as they responded with 19-11 run over the next seven-plus minutes to push out to a 62-44 lead following a 3-pointer from Ramiro with 6:55 left in the game. The run was keyed by six points from Payne, while Thompson and Ramiro each scored five points.
That 18-point lead at 62-44 was the largest of the game for either team.
South Dakota Mines, who has now dropped two straight games, would mount a rally as they scored 11 of the next 13 points to cut CSU Pueblo's lead to 64-53 following a free throw by Brevin Walter with 3:21 left in the game.
About 35 seconds later, Ramiro drilled a trey with 2:31 remaining to all but seal CSU Pueblo's win. Ramiro's trey gave the Pack a 67-53 lead. The Hardrockers capped the scoring with a free throw from Keagan Smith with 1:41 remaining in the game.
Alejandro Rama paced the Hardrockers with 17 points, while Walter, who entered the game averaging 21.9 points per game, was held to 12 points and eight rebounds and Smith finished with 10 points and seven boards in the loss.
CSU Pueblo's defense held South Dakota Mines to 36 percent shooting from the field and a 6-for-25 effort (24 percent) from the 3-point line.
South Dakota Mines did hold a 23-8 advantage at the free throw line as they shot 70 percent (16-for-23) from the line, while the Pack shot 5-for-8 (63 percent) at the line.
The Pack won the rebound battle, 32-29 and they also forced SDM into 13 turnovers that led to 18 points for the Pack. CSU Pueblo also had 14 assists and blocked two shots.
Both teams blocked two shots and SDM had an 8-6 edge in steals.
