GOLDEN, Colo.  In a game that was dead even at the halftime break and saw – in just the second half alone – 15 lead changes and 9 ties, host Colorado School of Mines broke free late for a closer-than-the-scoreboard-looked 79-74 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference men's basketball victory over visiting Western Colorado on Saturday night.

Matthew Ragsdale led all scorers with 33 points but Mines balanced that out with 19 and 15 points off its bench from Kai Barr and Justin Engesser, respectively.

JUST THE FACTS
Final score: Mines def. Western Colorado, 79-74
Records: Western Colorado 5-19 (4-14 RMAC), Mines 14-8 (12-6)
Location: Lockridge Arena, Golden, Colo.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• Not much in the first half hinted at what played out in the second half. Western scored the opening two points of the game, but from there the Orediggers took charge, building to an eight point lead, 25-17, nearing the halfway point of the first.
• Western didn't immediately start its comeback, but when it happened it did so quickly as by the seven-minute mark of the half the Mountaineer deficit was down to just one, 32-31.
• Western never led down the stretch but squared the game up twice before Will Willis' buzzer-beating 3-pointer added a third, sending the teams into the break tied at 43-43.
• Second-half action was simply an even battle between the two. Almost each of the nine ties in the half was in the middle of a lead change.
• The largest lead, until the final 10 seconds, was a four-point Mountaineer advantage (60-56) off a Ragsdale trey at the 9:24 mark.
• Western's last lead came with 2:05 to play with Ragsdale hitting a short jumper to regain the lead at 74-73.
• A few missed shots over the final minutes led to Mines stepping up and hitting free throws that finally closed out the victory.

COURT NOTES

• Talk about even…many of the stats in the book were as close as the final score
  • Both teams took 62 shots, Mines hitting one more (28) than did the Mountaineers
  • Western hit eight of its 3-point attempts with Mines hitting six of its long-range shots
  • Western scored 34 points in the paint to Mines' 32
  • Both teams finished with eight turnovers
• Some things that contributed to the final difference, however, were free throws and rebounds.
• The Orediggers went to the free throw line 23 times, hitting 17 of their attempts, compared to six fewer opportunities presented to the Mountaineers, who hit 12 of their shots from the stripe.
• While not a great difference in total rebounds, Mines earned a 43-34 advantage off the rim, one or two of those could have been second-chance points for Western, perhaps eliminating the need to foul late, which contributed to that total's discrepancy.
• In addition to the Mines bench getting 34 points from two players in double digits, both Ben Boone (12 points) and Brendan Sullivan (10) of the starting five gave Mines four players in double figures.
• Ragsdale's 33 were key to keeping the Mountaineers in the game, but only Willis (12 pts.) and Elijah Davidson (11) joined him in double-digit scoring.
• Davidson missed a double-double with eight rebounds, but Mines' Engesser, again, coming off the bench, did collect a double-double equaling his scoring total with 15 rebounds.

UP NEXT

• Western completes a four-game road swing on Friday and Saturday with RMAC games at Colorado State University Pueblo and Adams State University, respectively.
• Mines hits the road the same days for conference contests at Westminster College and at Colorado Mesa University.