DENVER – February 10, 2017 – Chadron State College men's basketball (2-20, 2-16 RMAC) dropped a 75-59 decision to MSU Denver (15-9, 11-7 RMAC) Friday night at Auraria Event Center in Denver, giving up 9 of 17 three-pointers to the home team in the first half and shooting 10-of-21 from the free throw line for the game.
"They did a good job of making some shots," said head men's basketball coach
Houston Reed. "There's not a coach in the league that's not going to tell you to build a wall and make Metro score over the top of you. We did that, and they made some shots. We made some adjustments as the game went on, but they had a hot start and that's a credit to them.
The Eagles challenged late in the game, cutting the deficit to nine points with over seven minutes remaining, but MSU Denver broke it open after CSC committed four turnovers in a span of two and a half minutes late in the second half.
The Eagles were without second-leading scorer
Warren Gordon and reserve guard
Bronte Corbray. Following violations of team rules, Gordon was suspended for the weekend and Corbray for the remainder of the season.
A scare occurred in Auraria when early in the game Sunday Dech collapsed and experienced an apparent seizure before being removed from the facility, under his own power by EMS staff.
"
Michael Johnson had taken a charge on the play," said Reed, "so I turned back toward the bench and when I spun back around, I saw Sunday laying on the ground and it was emotional for all of us. It's the worst thing for any coach, no matter what side you're on. He's a tremendous player, the type of kid we all want on our team. I'm glad he was able to get up and walk out on his own, and I'll do a check up on him later."
Brian Howard of the Roadrunners hit 6-of-10 from the field and 4-of-5 from three to pace MSU Denver with 22 points.
Leading scorers for the Eagles were
Darius Polley with 13 points and
Matt Reader with 10. Both players had a team-high six rebounds.
CSC plays again Saturday night at the University of Colorado Colorado Springs.
