CHADRON – Chadron State's Christopher Smith nailed two late 3-pointers and Kendrick Holliman scored a team-high 17 points to lead the Eagles to a 64-58 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference victory in the league opener for both squads Friday at the Chicoine Center.
 
Chadron State will host Western State in another RMAC tilt Saturday at 7:30 p.m.
 
Smith, who finished with 14 points, made four of five 3-pointers in the game but none were bigger than the back-to-back treys he hit late in the second half. The Mavericks (5-2, 0-1 RMAC) owned a 48-43 lead with five minutes to play but Smith drilled a shot from the wing to cut it to 48-46. Following a Mesa miss, point guard Josiah Lee found Smith open again and the senior guard delivered with another long-range shot to put CSC up 49-48.
 
The Eagles never trailed again and thanks to layups from Lee and solid free throw shooting from Holliman they improved to 2-3 overall and 1-0 in the conference. Holliman made two of six from the field but finished 12 of 13 from the foul line. He also added a team-high eight rebounds and two steals.
 
Also for CSC, Davante McCallam scored 10 points and Evan Brooks finished with nine.
 
For the game, Chadron State shot 57 from the field (20 of 35), while Mesa connected on 40 percent (21-52.
 
Chadron State led for much of the game – the Eagles opened the game on a 12-0 run – but Mesa kept in it behind the strong play of Ryan Stephan. The 6-foot-10 post poured in 35 points while shooting 12 of 20 from the field. He also made three of four 3-pointers. Only four other Mavs scored and none had more than nine points.