CHADRON, Neb. -- November 21, 2018 -- Both Chadron State College basketball teams will be playing two games in classics this weekend.

The men's team will meet the University of Sioux Falls at 5 p.m. (MST) Friday and Northern State at 4 p.m. Saturday in the Dacotah Bank Classic in Aberdeen, S.D.   The women will play Nebraska-Kearney at 4 p.m. (MST) Saturday and Fort Hays State at 1 p.m. Sunday in the UNK Crossover Classic in Kearney.

The Sioux Falls Cougars' men's team won its first three games by comfortable margins, downing Fort Hays State 89-70, Emporia State 99-62 and Waldorf College of Iowa 64-47.

Two Cougars, 6-foot Trevon Evans and 6-9 Drew Guebert, have scored 60 and 59 points, respectively, in the three games. 

Northern State is off to a 3-1 start.  The Wolves lost 72-70 in overtime to Northwest Missouri State in their opener, then defeated Queens University of North Carolina 82-74, Black Hills State 82-50 and South Dakota Mines 75-67.

Five Northern players are averaging at least nine points, led by 5-10 senior Ian Smith at 13 and 6-9 Parker Fox at 12. Fox is also averaging seven rebounds.

The Kearney Lopers women have opened their season 1-2. They lost to Minnesota-Crookston 71-59 and Wayne State 69-52 before beating Central Christian of Kansas 95-66.  Shiloh McCool, a 5-11 freshman, leads the team at 12.7 points and 7.7 rebounds a game.

Five of the top six scorers on last year's Fort Hays State women's team that went 26-7 have returned. This year's team is 11th in the latest NCAA Division II poll.       

The Lady Tigers opened the season last weekend by defeating Southwest Minnesota State 91-56 and Upper Iowa 69-36 and on Tuesday night had a closer game with Newman University in Wichita, but won 72-60.

Although they lost, the Tigers played both the Kansas Jayhawks and the Kansas State Wildcats close in exhibition games. Those scores were 90-83 and 48-46, respectively.

The CSC men have opened their season with a 2-2 record and the women are 1-3.  

Both CSC Men's Coach Houston Reed and his wife, Leah, are graduates of Northern State, where he played basketball two years in the early 2000s.  The Eagles' big win so far this year is the 70-55 victory over Nebraska-Kearney on Nov. 15.  Since then, the Lopers have knocked off two RMAC teams, Colorado-Colorado Springs 83-73 and Colorado Mines 67-60.