GUNNISON, Colo. Three-pointers were much of the bread and butter for Western Colorado Saturday evening against visiting South Dakota School of Mines, but it was a last second, 20-foot jumper from Kade Juelfs that was the icing on the cake as the Mountaineers downed the Hardrockers, 81-79, in Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference men's basketball action in Paul Wright Gymnasium.

With the score knotted at 79 in the closing seconds, Juelfs took a feed just outside the arc from Avery Rembao, deked his defender and stepped forward and under the block attempt, then drained the jumper with 2.9 seconds remaining to seal the win.

JUST THE FACTS
Final score: Western Colorado def. S.D. Mines, 81-79
Records: Western 3-9 (1-7 RMAC), S.D. Mines 5-10 (4-5)
Location: Paul Wright Gym, Gunnison, Colo.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• The 79-79 tie was the 14th knotted score in the game, which also saw 12 lead changes. And though Western's largest lead was eight points and they led by 6 at the halftime break, and Mines' biggest cushion was 5 points, most of the rest of the game saw the two teams playing within two or three points of each other.
• The game-winner was set up by a 3-pointer from Mines' Kolten Mortensen, who dropped in his tying trey from the left wing with 33 seconds remaining.
• Western came out of recess with that six-point advantage, but the Hardrockers outscored the Mountaineers 15-9 over the opening minutes of the second half to pull even at 50-50.
• Though there were six more tie scores over the final 14 minutes, Western trailed only once in that span, at 53-52. A Jaelan McCloud 3-pointer erased that deficit and pushed the Mountaineers back in front.
• Western looked in good shape with a six-point lead, 72-66, with 5:39 to play, but five unanswered from Mines brought the game back to the equilibrium that the scoreboard had been used to.
• A Juelfs jumper from the right wing and a free throw from Robel Desta provided the Mountaineers with that three-point advantage before Mortensen hit his clutch three that set up Juelfs to the be the game's hero.
• Western's largest lead was an early cushion, at 10-2, but Mines ran off 10 unanswered to wrest away the lead. The largest gap was just three points after that, until consecutive treys from Jaelan McCloud and Desta pushed the Mountaineers ahead, 36-31, before they eventually took a 41-35 advantage into the break.

MORE TO IT

• Desta finished the night with a team-high 20 points, and was joined in double figures by Juelfs (17), Jaelan McCloud (14) and Gino Corridori (14). Mines' Brevin Walter was the scoring leader with 30 points.
• Jaelan McCloud had a game-best four 3-pointers, while Desta and Juelfs each connected on three. Also hitting from behind the arc was Daric Conkright who hit a pair of treys. The Mountaineers totaled 14 for the game, while Mines hist just 7 of 30.
• Rembao led all players off the glass with eight rebounds, helping Western earn a commanding 44-32 advantage.
• Rembao also set a career high in assists with a game-best 11 on the night.

UP NEXT
The Mountaineers will hit the road for their next two games, RMAC contests at New Mexico Highlands on Friday and at Colorado State University Pueblo on Saturday night.