PUEBLO, Colo. – Colorado State University Pueblo men's basketball went toe-to-toe here Friday evening with 23rd-ranked Colorado School of Mines as the Orediggers outscored the ThunderWolves 10-4 in overtime to post an 85-79 come-from-behind victory in Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference action at Massari Arena.
 
With the setback, the Pack fall to 7-7 overall and 3-5 in the RMAC, while Mines improved to 13-3 overall and 7-1 in the RMAC. The Pack moved into a tie for 10th place with Colorado Christian in the RMAC standings with Friday's loss.
 
The Pack, who led by as much as 16 points in the first half before holding a 39-29 at the half, were outscored 46-36 in the second half by the Orediggers to tie the game at 75 and force the third overtime game this season for the Pack.
 
In the overtime session, neither team scored in first two-and-half minutes, before Mines scored the first point on a free throw by Sam Beskind to take a 76-75 lead. Following Beskind's free throw, senior guard Brevin Walter (Las Vegas, Nev./South Dakota Mines) gave the Pack a 77-76 lead with 2:33 left following two free throws. The Orediggers, though, would score the next seven points to push in front 83-77 with 15 seconds left. Following a lay-up by junior guard Armon Muldrew (Perris, Calif./San Bernardino Valley) that brought the Pack within 83-79 with 13 seconds left, Mines would make two of its last four free throws in the closing eight seconds to seal its six-point victory.
 
Muldrew led three Pack players in double figures in Friday's game as he tallied a season-high 24 points, while senior guard Makiah Morris (San Diego, Calif./San Diego City College) added 18 points, eight rebounds, five assists and three steals and Walter tallied 15 points in the loss.
 
In the opening half, the Pack shot 52 percent from the field and was a perfect 5-for-5 from the free throw line en route to holding a 39-29 lead at the half. The Pack are now 7-2 this season when leading at the half.
 
Mines opened the game by jumping in front 15-12 just a little over 10 minutes into the game, before the Pack used a 23-4 run keyed by seven points each from Morris and Muldrew to take a 35-19 lead with 2:25 left in the period. The run began with a lay-up and free throw to complete a 3-point play from Morris and was capped by two free throws from junior forward De'Shaun Cooper (Poway, Calif./Balboa School). Cooper finished with nine points, five rebounds and two blocks in the game.
 
After Cooper's free throws, Mines closed the half by scoring 10 of the final 14 points to cut the Pack's halftime lead to 10 points at 39-29.
 
Mines would open the second half on an 11-2 run to cut the Pack's lead to 41-40 with 16:23 left in regulation. A trey from graduate student guard Isaiah Morris (San Diego, Calif./Cal State-Dominguez Hills) stopped the Mines run and gave the Pack a 44-40 lead with 16:05 left in the half.
 
The Orediggers, though, responded with an 11-0 run capped by a trey from Majok Deng to give Mines a 51-44 lead with 12:19 left in the half. The Pack would come right back and score 15 of the next 19 points to take a 59-55 lead following a lay-up by Muldrew with nine minutes remaining.
 
Both team would keep the game within two points over the next four-plus minutes before the Pack used an 8-2 run to push out to a 73-68 lead with 2:37 left in regulation. Following a Beskind lay-up just 28 seconds later brought Mines within 73-70, Walter gave the Pack a 75-70 lead following his basket with 1:39 remaining. That would be the final points that the Pack would score in regulation.
 
Mines closed the second half by scoring the final five points of the half thanks to a trey from Beskind that dropped the Pack lead to 75-73 with 1:24 left, before Deng hit two free throws with 47 seconds left.
 
On the Pack's ensuing possession, Muldrew missed a trey, but Walter collected an offensive rebound and with 12 seconds left, Cooper missed a shot outside the paint to give the Orediggers one last chance to win the game in regulation, but Deng's shot from 12 feet was short with two seconds left.
 
Beskind paced five Orediggers in double figures with 17 points and 12 rebounds, while Alex Romack and Deng added 15 points. Cade Markle and Adam Krasovec each had 12 points in the win. Romack also had a double-double as he pulled down 10 rebounds.
 
For the game, the Pack shot 43 percent from the field and 37 percent (7-for-19) from the 3-point line, while Mines shot 47 percent from the field and 44 percent (8-for-18) from the 3-point line.
 
Mines held a 44-35 edge on the boards and had 19 assists to 11 assists for the Pack. The Pack, though, forced Mines into 14 turnovers that led to 13 points. The Pack committed just nine turnovers in the game.
 
The Pack also had 10 steals as long with Makiah Morris' three steals, Walter had four steals. Mines held a 4-3 edge in blocked shots.
 
Mines, though, kept the Pack in the game thanks to a 54 percent (13-for-24) effort from the free throw line, including a 6-for-13 effort from the line in overtime. The Pack was 14-for-17 (82 percent) from the free throw line. The Pack are 52-for-60 (86.7 percent) from the free throw line over its last three games.
 
The Pack will continue its three-game homestand with a 6 p.m. RMAC game on Saturday, Jan. 13 against MSU Denver (10-3 overall, 4-3 RMAC), who picked up an 83-75 win on Friday night at New Mexico Highlands.