PUEBLO, Colo. – Colorado State University Pueblo concluded its pre-Christmas home schedule here Saturday afternoon with a hard-fought 68-58 victory over South Dakota Mines in Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference action at Massari Arena.
 
With the win, the ThunderWolves improve to 8-2 overall and 3-1 in the RMAC, while South Dakota Mines falls to 1-11 overall and 1-3 in the RMAC. The win also helped the Pack snap a two-game losing skid to the Hardrockers and move into a three-way tie with Black Hills State and Regis for third place in the RMAC standings. The 8-2 start to the season for the Pack is its best 10-game start since also starting 8-2 in the 2014-15 season. 
 
Saturday's win came less than 48 hours after the Pack snapped its five-game homecourt and three-game overall win streak with a 66-62 loss to Chadron State. 
 
In Saturday's game, the Pack, who is now 15-0 since the beginning of the 2022-23 season when holding an opponent under 60 points, used 51 percent shooting from the field, including shooting 55 percent from the field in the second half and a second straight double-double (15 points, 11 rebounds) from senior forward De'Shaun Cooper (San Diego, Calif./Balboa School) to post the victory and improve to 6-1 at home on the season.
 
Along with Cooper's fourth career double-double, fifth-year senior guard Brevin Walter (Las Vegas, Nev./South Dakota Mines) led the way for the Pack with a season-high tying 18 points against his former school where he scored nearly 1,300 points and was a two-time All-RMAC selection. Walter finally earned his first career win against his former school. Walter scored 12 of his 18 points in the second half, was 6-for-6 at the free throw line, and has now made 21 consecutive free throws. Additionally, senior guard Armon Muldrew (Perris, Calif./San Bernardino Valley) added 16 points, five assists and four rebounds. 
 
Much like Thursday's game with Chadron State, the Pack got off to a slow start in Saturday's game as they trailed by as much as eight points at 21-13 just a little over nine minutes into the contest.
 
The Pack, though, would close the first half on a 23-9 run to turn an eight-point deficit into a 36-30 halftime lead. Cooper (8 points) and Muldrew (6 points) combined to score 14 of the Pack's final 23 points in the first half.
 
CSU Pueblo opened the second half on a 14-9 run to turn its six-point halftime lead into a 50-39 advantage with 11:46 left in the second half. The Pack's run was keyed by eight points from Walter and capped by a lay-up from redshirt sophomore guard Jaden Kennis (Windsor, Colo./MSU Denver).
 
The Hardrocker would respond by scoring five of the next seven points to pull within 52-44 with 10:06 left in the game. A dunk by junior guard Denim Johnson (Omaha, Neb./Trinity Valley CC) and basket by Muldrew gave the Pack a 57-44 lead with 7:44 left in the game.
 
South Dakota Mines mounted another comeback as they scored 12 of the next 17 points to cut the Pack lead to 62-56 following a 3-pointer from Keagen Smith with 3:34 left in the game.
 
Walter (4 points) and Muldrew (2 points) scored the final six points for the Pack to cap the scoring.
 
Tre Dowdell paced the Hardrockers with a game-high 20 points, while Smith added 11 points and Abel Hutchinson finished with nine points in the loss.
 
While shooting 51 percent from the field, the Pack were just 3-for-13 (23 percent) from the 3-point line and 9-for-13 (69.2 percent) from the free throw line. Meanwhile, South Dakota Mines shot 48 percent from the field, and 23 percent from the 3-point. In addition, the Hardrockers were just 11-for-19 (57.9 percent) from the foul line.
 
The Pack held a 30-28 edge on the boards and dished out 19 assists on 28 made baskets, including Cooper, Muldrew, and Kennis each recording five assists in the game.
 
One game after committing 14 turnovers that led to 18 points for the Eagles, the Pack had just six turnovers in Saturday's game with all six turnovers coming in the second half.
 
The Pack also held a 36-18 edge in points in the paint and blocked three shots. South Dakota Mines had two blocks and 10 assists.
 
CSU Pueblo will now step out of RMAC play this coming week as they travel to Honolulu, Hawai'i to play two games in the Hoops in Hawai'i Holiday Classic hosted by Hawai'i Pacific University on Dec. 19-20. The Pack will open the event on Thursday, Dec. 19 with an 11 p.m. MT game against Alaska-Anchorage and then conclude the trip with an 11 p.m. MT game on Friday, Dec. 20 against Hawai'i Pacific.