CHADRON, Neb. -- November 26, 2016 -- Each half of basketball Saturday afternoon at the Chicoine Center was decided by a one-point margin.

Chadron State College (0-4) took the first half 26-25, while the University of Nebraska at Kearney (4-2) tied things up at 60 in the second half. In the end, a few plays went the wrong way for the Eagles in overtime, sending the Lopers on a 15-5 run to win 75-65 in overtime.

Our guys did exactly what we told them to do today," said CSC head men's basketball coach Houston Reed. "We just didn't execute offensively a few times in the final plays, and that was the difference in the game."
 
"Kearney didn't expect to come in here and be played this tough today," he added.

The Eagles held UNK's leading scorers Trey Lansman (20.8 points per game entering the contest) and Yashua Trent (19.6) to 13 and 10 points today, respectively, in an extended game.

Chadron State successfully forced their opponents to take outside shots with a gap defense, denying UNK drives inside the lane. Kearney only hit 12 field goals the entire game which were inside the arc and shot it 28.1 percent from three-point range.

CSC was led in scoring by Darius Polley with 14 points on 6-of-12 shooting, and Michael Johnson whose presence was felt at the post position this afternoon as he hit six of seven shots for 14 points and led the team with 6 boards.

The Eagles trailed for a total of 53 seconds in the opening minutes of the game before a three-point play by Austin Hall gave them their biggest lead of the day at 15-7, just 6:24 into the contest.

The Lopers went on a 17-4 run at that point, but Leigh Saffin hit two unanswered three-point shots under two minutes to send the Eagles into the locker room with the halftime lead.

Scores went up for both teams in the second half as each side found a little more success scoring in the paint. Missed layups were a curse for both teams on the afternoon.

In the five-minute overtime, UNK was able to open things up by hitting the first four field goals, three coming from Kearney guard Isaiah McKay, who saw only six minutes on the floor in the first half. The Lopers hit two long-range shots while the Eagles missed three straight from downtown, as the Kearney men drove the score to 71-61 with 1:34 left to play.

CSC's Polley would penetrate to lay the ball up twice more, but the Lopers sunk four foul shots in a row to ice the game.

Coach Reed still sees potential for the 2016-17 squad in this early part of the season.

"Every single player on our team who played significant minutes had one, or two, or three plays that they can look at tonight and improve," said Reed. "It's up to each individual on the team to look at themselves and figure out what to work on, rather than point fingers. That's the mark of a competitor."

Scoring Summary       1          2         OT 1    Total   Records
Nebraska-Kearney       24        36        15        75        4-2 (0-0 MIAA)
Chadron State             25        35        5          65        0-4 (0-0 RMAC)