CHADRON, Neb. - Colorado State University Pueblo men's basketball continued its struggles in Rocky Mountain Conference play here Saturday afternoon as the ThunderWolves fell 81-65 to Chadron State at the Chicoine Center on the CSC campus.

Saturday's loss was the fourth straight for the Pack and dropped its overall record to 10-12 on the season and 5-9 in the RMAC, while Chadron State improved to 12-10 and 8-6 in the league. Despite the loss, the Pack remains in a three-way tie for ninth place in the league standings with three weeks remaining in the regular season. 

In Saturday's game, which was the Pack's sixth straight road loss, the Pack defense allowed the Eagles to score 40 or more points in each half, while its offense shot 39 percent from the field and 25 percent from the 3-point line. Meanwhile, CSC shot 50 percent from the field and was 10-for-18 (55.6 percent) from the 3-point line, including making seven of those 10 treys in the second half to outscore the Pack by nine points (40-31) after holding a 41-34 lead at the half.
 

Junior guard Kesean Bazile (Victorville, Calif./West Hills Lemoore) paced three Pack players in double figures with 13 points. In addition to Bazile, fifth-year senior guard Brevin Walter (Las Vegas, Nev./South Dakota Mines) added 11 points and senior forward De'Shaun Cooper (San Diego, Calif./Balboa School) chipped in with 10 points to push his career total to 1,015 points, which is 27th on the school's all-time charts. The Eagles, though, held senior guard Armon Muldrew (Perris Calif./San Bernardino Valley) to just six points as he entered the game averaging a team-best 12.1 points per game on the season. 

The Pack scored six of the game's first nine points thanks to back-to-back treys from redshirt sophomore guard Jaden Kennis (Windsor, Colo./MSU Denver) and Muldrew and led 10-9 following a lay-up by junior forward Victor Lado (Louisville, Ky./Vincennes University) with 14:45 left in the opening half, before CSC used a 7-0 run capped by a lay-up from Darrius Miles to take a 16-10 lead just a little over seven minutes into the game. The Pack, though, used two free throws from Cooper and a trey from Bazile to pull within 16-15 with 11:05 left in the first half.

CSC responded with a 9-2 run to take a 25-17 lead with 7:24 left in the first half. The Pack would come right back and scored 10 of the next 16 points and capped the flurry with a basket by Walter to pull within 31-27 with 4:28 remaining in the half. That would be as close as the Pack would get as the Eagles used a 10-3 run aided by eight points from Trey Ballard to push out to a 41-30 lead with 1:28 left in the opening half. 

The Pack closed the first half by scoring the final four points thanks to a dunk by Cooper and two Walter free throws to cut CSC's lead to 41-34 at the half.  

Trailing 41-34 at the half, the Pack scored four of the first six points of the second half to pull within 43-38 just 90 seconds into the half, but CSC responded with a 27-12 run over the next nine-plus minutes that was aided by six made 3-pointers to push out to a 20 point lead at 70-50 with 9:09 left in the game. The 20-point lead was the largest of the game for the Eagles. 

Following CSC's run, the Pack scored six straight points to pull within 70-56 with 6:40 remaining in the game, but the Eagles answered back by scoring seven of the next nine points and capped the run with a trey by Miles with 2:40 left in the game to give the Eagles a 77-59 lead. The Pack would close the game by scoring six of the final 10 points to set the final margin. 

Chadron State, who swept the season series against the Pack as they earned a 66-62 win at Massari Arena on Dec. 12, was paced offensively by Zy Wright as he had 22 points for the Eagles, including hitting two of his team's 10 treys in the win. In addition to Wright, Ballard added 19 points, including three treys, off the bench, while Jalen Thomas chipped in with 14 points and Darrius Miles had 11 points and a game-high eight rebounds in the victory.

CSC finished the game with a 39-28 edge on the boards, including a 10-6 advantage on the offensive glass and both teams committed 11 turnovers in the contest. The Eagles, though, held a 14-6 edge in points off turnovers. 

The Pack did finish with seven steals, including three by Muldrew, and had 13 assists on 20 made baskets. CSC had 18 assists, including seven by Thomas, in the win. 

Both teams were strong at the free throw line in the game as the Pack finished the game 19-for-25 (76 percent) from the line, including going 10-for-13 at the line in the first half, while CSC was 7-for-9 (77.8 percent), including going 6-for-6 from the line in the first half.

The Pack, who is in the midst of a three-game road swing, will conclude the road swing with an 8 p.m. game on Tuesday, Feb. 11 in Lakewood, Colo., against Colorado Christian. CCU picked up an 83-72 win over the Pack in Massari Arena on Jan. 9.