RAPID CITY, S.D. – Colorado State University Pueblo men's basketball saw its road struggles in Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference play continue here Friday evening as the ThunderWolves were outscored 33-15 from the three-point line en route to suffering an 86-80 loss to South Dakota Mines at the King Center.

The loss, which was the second straight on the road for the Pack as they fell 79-72 last Friday at Western Colorado, dropped its road record to 2-6 on the season, including being 2-4 on the road in RMAC play. 

With setback, the Pack's record moved to 9-9 overall and 5-7 in the RMAC, while South Dakota Mines improved to 8-10 overall and 6-6 in the RMAC. The win was the second one this season for the Hardrockers over the Pack as they earned a 101-99 overtime victory on Dec. 15 in Massari Arena.

Friday's game was a tale of two halves for the Pack, who fell into ninth place in the RMAC standings with Friday's loss, as they were outscored 44-30 in the first half as the Hardrockers hit five 3-pointers and shot 52 percent from the field to hold a 14-point lead at the half, while in the second half, the Pack outscored the Hardrockers, 50-42, as they made five treys and shot 52 percent from the field and 83 percent from the free throw line in the second half. CSU Pueblo never had a lead in the game as the Hardrockers led for 39-plus minutes.

Senior guard Makiah Morris (San Diego, Calif./San Diego City College) paced the Pack offense with 21 points and added eight rebounds, while senior guard Brevin Walter (Las Vegas, Nev./South Dakota Mines) and junior guard Armon Muldrew (Perris, Calif./San Bernardino Valley) each scored 17 points and freshman forward Ty Adam (Severance, Colo./Severance) tallied a career-high 10 points, including scoring eight of those points in the first half.

Walter, who was playing his first game at the King Center as an opposing player as Walter played the past three seasons with the Hardrockers before transferring to CSU Pueblo during the offseason, scored 13 of his 17 points in the second half. He also added a season-high rebounds in the loss.

After trailing 44-30 at the half, the Pack opened the second half on a 14-1 run thanks to hitting four treys, including three from Walter to pull the Pack within 45-44 with 15:32 left in the game.

The Hardrockers, though, responded with 23-13 run to take an 11-point lead at 68-57 with 7:23 left in the game. Following that run, the Pack would use a 19-11 run keyed by nine points from junior forward De'Shaun Cooper (Poway, Calif./Balboa School) to pull within 79-76 with 43 seconds left.

South Dakota Mines would hit seven of eight free throws over the final 42 seconds of the game to hold of the Pack and seal its victory and improve to 6-0 all-time against the Pack in Rapid City.

The Pack got off to a slow start in Friday's game as they trailed by as much at 18 points at 44-26 with 35 seconds left in the opening half, before closing the first half by scoring the final four points on baskets by Morris and Adam to cut the Hardrockers lead to 44-30 at the half.

South Dakota Mines got off to its big lead thanks to making five 3-pointers and shooting 52 percent from the field. The Pack did not make any of its seven 3-point shot attempts and shot just 42 percent from the field in the first half.

Morris and Adam combined to score 18 of the Pack's 30 first half points as Morris scored 12 and Adam scored eight points in the half to better his previous season high of seven points against Alaska-Fairbanks on Nov. 17.

Keagan Smith paced four Hardrockers in double figures with 23 points and added 10 rebounds for a double-double. In addition to Smith's double-double, Cameron Cohn added 21 points, while Alejandro Rama tallied 18 points and had seven rebounds and eight assists and Brannagh Walsh scored 10 points in the win.

For the game, the Pack shot 47 percent from the field and was 5-for-18 (28 percent) from the 3-point line, while South Dakota Mines shot 48 percent from the field and was 11-for-24 (45.8 percent) from the 3-point line. The 11 treys allowed by the Pack marked just the fifth time this season that the Pack had allowed double-digit treys in a game.

The Pack were outrebounded 35-29, but had a season-low six assists, including just one assist in the first half. South Dakota Mines had 15 assists on the night.

South Dakota Mines had 13 turnovers, while the Pack committed just 11 turnovers as both teams scored 12 points off those turnovers.

Both teams each made 19 free throws in the game, including going a combined 11-for-11 from the line in the first half. The Pack shot 86 percent (19-for-22) from the line, while the Hardrockers were 19-for-24 (79 percent) at the stripe.

The Pack will conclude its three-game road trip with a 6 p.m. RMAC contest in Spearfish, S.D., against Black Hills State. The Yellow Jackets, who have advanced the NCAA Division II national semifinals the past two seasons, improved to 8-9 overall and 6-5 in the RMAC following its 89-82 home win Friday night over New Mexico Highlands.