Women's Basketball December 9, 2015 Con Marshall

Eagles to host Yellow Jackets, Hardrockers

CHADRON, Neb. -- After taking narrow victories over Regis to open their Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference schedules last Saturday, the Chadron State College basketball teams will be at home to meet the neighbors to the north, Black Hills State on Friday night and South Dakota Mines on Saturday night, in the Chicoine Center.

Both double-headers will begin at 5:30 with the women's games.

The CSC men are 3-2 for the season and the Lady Eagles are 1-4. This weekend's action will close out the Eagles' home schedule for 2015, but they'll open the 2016 portion on Jan. 2 and 3 by hosting Western State and CSU-Pueblo.

CSC men's coach Brent Bargen is hoping to have everyone available this weekend after guards Sharif Black and Warren Gordon were ailing and couldn't play against Regis.

Women's coach Tim Connealy is pleased that his team has shot more than 50 percent from the field in its last two games, but said the Eagles must take better care of the ball. They had 25 turnovers against Regis, eight of them on traveling calls and three because of offensive charges.

The Black Hills State women are 4-1 for the season, including a 51-43 win over South Dakota Mines at home last week. The Yellow Jackets' men are 2-3 after losing to the Hardrockers 78-73.

Both Black Hills teams swept the Eagles last season. The Lady Jackets, who started four seniors, won 78-69 in Chadron and 86-71 in Spearfish while the BHSU men edged CSC 62-61 in Chadron and prevailed 79-65 on their home court.

So far, guard Bailey Kusser is leading the Black Hills women in scoring at 10.8 points and the only returning starter from last year, 6-footer Taylor Trohkimoinen, is the top rebounder at 6.6 a game.

The Jackets' men have defeated Johnson and Wales 83-61 and Trinity Bible 98-75. Besides losing to Mines, they were edged 75-74 by Presentation College and 82-80 by Montana State-Billings.

Senior guard Nick Ongarato scored 26 points against Mines and 27 against Trinity to earn this week's RMAC Men's Offensive Player of the Week Award. For the season, he's averaging 20.6 points while 6-5 senior forward Riley Ryan, son of former Chadron State athletes Bill and Kim Ryan, is averaging 18 points and a team-best 6.6 rebounds.

The South Dakota Mines women are 3-2 after defeating Johnson and Wales, Presentation and St. Cloud State 87-86 in overtime in Minnesota. They were stopped 74-48 by the Mary Marauders, besides Black Hills State.

Megan Rohrer, a 6-1 junior, leads in scoring at 15.2 points a game. Three more Lady Hardrockers are averaging in double figures, paced by 5-10 sophomore Kahlie Peterson at 12.4 points.

The Mines men beat Johnson and Wales and Oglala Lakota before topping Black Hills State. Their losses have been to Presentation and Mary.

Konor Kulas, a 6-7 junior, leads the Hardrockers with lofty averages of 23 points and 11 rebounds. He's scored more than 20 points in each of the last four games.

Both Mines teams beat the Eagles in Rapid City on Nov. 28 last year. The Lady Rockers prevailed 65-49 and the men won 69-55. This is the Hardrockers' first year in the RMAC basketball races.

On Friday night, Chadron State's Blue Key Honor Society will be collecting canned goods to be distributed during the holidays through Shepherd's Food Pantry sponsored by the Immanuel Lutheran Church in Chadron.

The men's game on Saturday night has been tabbed "Silent Night" by The Nest student marketing club. Fans are encouraged to participate by remaining silent from tip-off until the Eagles score their 10th point in the game. Once the 10th point is scored, fans are asked to break the silence by cheering loudly.

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