GOLDEN, Colo. – Colorado State University Pueblo men's basketball continued its struggles in Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference play here Thursday evening as the ThunderWolves suffered a 96-75 setback to 12th-ranked Colorado School of Mines at Lockridge Arena. 
 
The loss was the fifth straight for the Pack as they fell to 8-7 overall and 3-4 in the RMAC, while Mines improved to 13-2 overall and 7-0 in the league. Along with its fifth straight overall loss, the Pack, who is now in a five-way tie for eighth place in the RMAC standings, also lost its third consecutive conference game after opening league play with a 3-1 record.
 
In Thursday's game, it was a tale of two halves for the ThunderWolves as they trailed by just seven points (41-34) at the half but were outscored 55-41 in the second half by the Orediggers as Mines missed just seven shots in the second half with six of those misses coming from the 3-point as Mines shot 76 percent from the field and 46 percent from the 3-point line.
 
Fifth-year Brevin Walter (Las Vegas, Nev./South Dakota Mines) paced four Pack players in double figures with 14 points, scoring nine in the first half. In addition to Walter, senior forward De'Shaun Cooper (San Diego, Calif./Balboa School) added 13 points, while freshman forward Jake Lafferty (Bruner, Mo./Sparta) tallied 11 points, including scoring nine of those points in the second half and junior forward Victor Lado (Louisville, Ky./Vincennes University) tallied 10 points off the bench on his 21st birthday. 
 
Mines opened the game by jumping out to a 9-4 lead just a little over five minutes into the game, before the Pack used an 11-3 run to take a 15-12 lead with 12:13 left in the first half following a basket by Walter. Walter scored seven of the Pack's 11 points, while junior guard Denim Johnson (Omaha, Neb./Trinity Valley CC) scored the other four points during the run.
 
After a trey from Grant Pressly helped Mine tie the game at 15-all with 11:56 left in the opening half, the Pack scored seven of the next 12 points to take a 22-20 lead following a 3-pointer from junior guard Kesean Bazile (Victorville, Calif./West Hills Lemoore) with 8:31 left in the opening half.
 
The Orediggers, though, responded with a 9-2 run to push out to a 29-24 lead with 5:34 left in the first half. The Pack would answer back as they used an 8-5 run capped by back-to-back lay-ups by Lado and Walter to pull within 34-32 with 3:08 left in the opening half.
 
Mines would close the half on a 7-2 run to take its 41-34 lead at the half.
 
The Orediggers opened the second half by scoring 12 of the first 16 points to push out to a 53-38 lead just three minutes into the half. The Pack would score seven of the next 10 points to cut the Orediggers' lead to 56-45.
 
The Pack would respond as they used a 15-10 run over the next six-plus minutes to pull within 63-53 following a free throw by Lafferty with 11:57 remaining in the game.
 
That would be as close as the Pack would get as the Orediggers, who are ranked No. 12 in this week's latest NABC/Division II Coaches' Poll, used a 28-12 run over eight-plus minutes to push out to a 91-65 lead with 3:40 left in the game. That 26-point lead was the largest of the game for the Orediggers.
 
The Pack would close the game by scoring 10 of the final 15 points to set the final margin.
 
Mines, who has now won five games in a row and is one of two undefeated teams remaining in league play this season, was led offensively by Cade Mankle with 16 points, while Alex Romack tallied 15 points off the bench. Adam Krasovec and Markus Pastorcic-Straun each scored 14 points and Riley Schroeder chipped in with 13 points. The Mines bench outscored the Pack's bench 55-23 in the win.
 
After shooting 76 percent from the field and 46 percent from the 3-point line in the second half, Mines finished the game shooting 61 percent from the field and 46 percent (10-for-22) from the 3-point line.
 
Meanwhile, the Pack shot 48 percent from the field but was just 3-for-12 (25 percent) from the 3-point line in the loss.
 
The Pack, though, held a 30-18 advantage from the free throw line as the Pack shot 80 percent (24-for-30) from the free throw line, while Mines was 14-for-18 (77.8 percent) at the line.
 
Mines held a 27-24 edge on the boards as redshirt sophomore guard Jaden Kennis (Windsor, Colo./MSU Denver) led the Pack with a game-high seven boards, but the Pack committed 16 turnovers that led to 22 points for the Orediggers. The Pack scored 10 points off of Mines' 13 turnovers. 
 
Mines also had 26 assists on 36 made baskets and held a 4-2 edge in blocked shots in the win.
 
The Pack will look to rebound on Saturday, Jan. 18 as they remain in the Denver area as they travel to Regis University for a 3 p.m. RMAC game. The Rangers improved to 7-8 overall and 5-2 in the league after earning an 83-78 home win Thursday over UCCS.