PUEBLO, Colo. – Chadron State College men's basketball team suffered a defeat against Colorado State University at Pueblo, 86-73, in Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference action Saturday night in Pueblo. The Eagles close out their season against Black Hills State University Saturday, Feb 28, in Spearfish.
 
The Eagles (7-18, 6-15 RMAC) fought the ThunderWolves (19-7, 15-5 RMAC) closely in the first half, taking the lead on a buzzer-beater 3-point shot with a second left, 39-37.
 
The two teams would keep the score close until Pueblo went on a 12-1 run to take the lead, 72-61. CSC would never recover the lead, losing by 13.
 
Four seniors scored in the double-digits for the Eagles. Christopher Smith led the charge with 16, hitting four from beyond the arc, while Evan Brooks had 14 and Kendrick Holliman added 12. Michael Safer had a career-high 12 points, hitting all six shots from the foul line.
 
Defensively, Holliman had a team-high eight rebounds. Safer had three blocks and five rebounds in the loss.
 
The ThunderWolves were led by Will Newman, scoring 19 points on 8-11 shooting. Rico Spikes had eight rebounds and 14 points, while Tyrone Marshall added 13 and Bronson Moton tore down nine boards and scored a dozen points.
 
CSU-Pueblo shot 47 percent from the field compared to Chadron State 38 percent. CSC shot 91 percent from the line in the loss, but were outscored in points off of turnovers, 16-6.