PUEBLO, Colo. – Colorado State University Pueblo men's basketball trailed by 10 points with 50 seconds here Friday night against South Dakota Mines left in regulation, but the ThunderWolves scored 16 of the final 22 points in regulation to force overtime, but in the overtime period the Hardrockers outscored the Pack 12-10 to seal its 101-99 victory in Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference action at Massari Arena.
 
With the setback, the ThunderWolves dropped its second straight game as they fell to 6-5 overall and 2-3 in the RMAC, while South Dakota Mines improved to 5-6 overall and 3-2 in the league. The Pack fell into a tie for eighth place in the RMAC standings with Friday's loss.
 
The Pack, who trailed by as much as 19 points with about five-plus minutes left in the first half and was down 48-32 at the half, began its late game rally with a lay-up and free throw  by junior forward De'Shaun Cooper (Poway, Calif./Balboa School) with 40 seconds left to pull the Pack within 83-76.
 
On the Hardrockers' ensuing possession, Cameron Cohn missed the front-end of a 1-and-1 free throw and the Pack's trip downcourt following Cohn's missed free throw, Cooper scored on another lay-up with 32 seconds left to pull the Pack within 83-78.
 
Cohn helped give SDM an 85-78 lead with two free throws with 32 second left and about six seconds later, senior guard Brevin Walter (Las Vegas, Nev./South Dakota Mines) hit two free throws to pull within 85-80 with 27 seconds remaining in regulation.
 
On the Hardrockers' next possession, junior forward Daeyon James (Stockbridge, Ga./Seward County CC) picked up a steal and the steal led to a trey from freshman forward Corbin Garver (Colorado Springs, Colo./Air Academy) with 23 seconds left in the regulation to bring the Pack within two points at 85-83.
 
Following Garver's trey, Alejandro Rama would hit two free throws with 19 seconds left to push the Hardrockers' lead to 87-83. Seven seconds later, James drilled a trey from the top of the key to bring the Pack within a point at 87-86. Rama would push SDM's lead back to three following two more free throws with 10 seconds left.
 
On the Pack's trip down the court following Rama's free throws, Walter would drill a trey with six seconds left to tie the game and force the second overtime game this season for the Pack.
 
In the overtime session, Walter scored the first two points just nine seconds into the period to give the Pack a 91-89 lead. That would be the Pack's first lead of the game.
 
The Hardrockers, though, used a trey with 4:33 left in overtime by Bryce Sherrell to retake the lead at 92-91. SDM pushed its lead to 93-91 following 1-of-2 free throws by Guillem Garcia with 3:38 remaining in overtime.
 
Walter would help the Pack retie the game on a turn-around jumper with 3:19 left and then the Pack used a lay-up by Cooper with 2:50 remaining to give the Pack a 95-93 lead.
 
The Hardrockers, though, scored four straight points to retake the lead at 97-95 with 1:13 left in the overtime. Walter would respond by hitting two free throws with 52 seconds left to retie the game at 97-all.
 
Rama would give SDM a 99-97 lead on his basket with 32 seconds left and once again, Walter would retie the game at 99 on his basket with 26 seconds left. The Hardrockers would hold the ball the final shot and Rama would drill a shot in the paint with five seconds left to seal the Hardrockers' victory.
 
Walter paced the Pack offense with 36 points and added eight rebounds and five assists. Walter finished the game 12-for-29 from the field, was 3-for-13 from the 3-point line and was 9-for-10 at the free throw line against his former school. Walter scored 23 of his 36 points in the second half and overtime.
 
Walter played the past three seasons (2022-23) at South Dakota Mines and was a nearly 1,300 point scorer in three seasons as a Hardrocker and was a two-time RMAC selection.
 
In addition to Walter, Cooper finished with 17 points and six rebounds, including scoring 12 of those points in the second half, while junior guard Armon Muldrew (Perris, Calif./San Bernardino Valley) added 16 points, including scoring 12 points in the second half. James and Garver each scored 10 points to give the Pack five players in double figures in the loss.
 
It appeared that overtime wouldn't be needed for most of the game as the Hardrockers scored the first seven points of the game and led by as much as 19 points at 37-18 with 5:25 left in the opening half.
 
The Pack, though, would rally to close the first half as they outscored the Hardrockers, 14-11, to cut South Dakota Mines' lead to 48-32 at the half.
 
In the opening half, SDM shot 56 percent from the field and 50 percent from the 3-point line, while the Pack shot 35 percent from the field and were just 1-for-11 from the 3-point line. The Pack kept in the game in the first half by going 13-for-14 (93 percent) from the free throw line.
 
The Pack opened the second half on a 17-7 run to cut SDM's lead to 55-49 following a free throw by Cooper with 14:21 left in the regulation.
 
SDM responded with a 19-12 run to extend its lead to 74-61. The run was keyed by 12 points from Cohn, who scored a team-high 33 points before fouling out late in regulation.
 
That run by SDM seemed to ignite the Pack as they used a 10-2 run capped by a driving lay-up by Walter with 3:42 left in regulation to push the Pack within five points at 76-71.

The Hardrockers would answer right back as they scored seven of the next points to push its lead to 83-73 with 50 seconds left. Rama and Cohn combined to score all seven of SDM's points.
 
CSU Pueblo outscored the Hardrockers, 57-41 in the second half as they shot 60 percent from the field and 39 percent from the 3-point line. The 57 second half points were a season-high for the Pack.
 
In addition to Cohn's 33 points, Rama, who entered the game as the No. 4 scorer in the league, added 25 points. Keagan Smith scored 12 points and added 10 rebounds, while Abel Hutchison added 10 points for the Hardrockers.
 
For the game, the Pack shot 49 percent from the field, but was just 6-for-26 (23 percent) from the 3-point line, while the Hardrockers shot 51 percent from the field and 41 percent (14-for-34) from the 3-point line.
 
The Pack held a 39-37 edge on the boards, while SDM won the turnover battle (11-10), but the Pack scored 15 points off those 10 SDM turnovers.
 
Both teams were strong at the free throw line as the two teams combined to shoot 49 free throws as the Pack were 23-for-27 (85.2 percent) at the line, while SDM was 17-for-22 (77.3 percent) from the line.
 
The Pack will close out its first semester schedule on Sunday, Dec. 17 with an exhibition game in Fort Collins, Colo., against 17th-ranked Colorado State. Tip-off for Sunday's exhibition is slated for 4 p.m. at Moby Arena on the CSU campus.