CHADRON, Neb. – February 29, 2020 – The Chadron State College men's basketball season ended Friday evening in the Chicoine Center as the team's three seniors were honored in a pre-game ceremony.
 
The outcome of the night's contest wasn't what the team would have preferred, but the Eagles fought hard despite missing their leader for nearly all of the game. Visiting MSU Denver prevailed 89-79 on the final day of Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference play.
 
"We had guys on the floor tonight who hadn't been on the floor all year long," said CSC Head Men's Basketball Coach Houston Reed. I'm proud of our guys for fighting back against adversity, but unfortunately we didn't have enough to pull off the comeback."
 
Senior point guard Colby Jackson exited the game just a couple minutes in, when CSC had the sole advantage to that point in the game. However, the Roadrunners took the lead shortly after, and never trailed again.
 
MSU Denver was up by as many as 14 points in the first half. Still, the Eagles cut the lead to 60-59 with 8:41 to play.
 
Another senior guard, Michael Sparks, was key in the turnaround. He matched a career high with 26 points, and hit 10-of 17 from the floor including 4-of-9 from three-point range. Reed praised him for stepping up in the moment.
 
"I'm really proud of Mikey," he said after the game. "Colby going down with the injury was a game changer. We put Sparks in at the point guard position, and he hadn't played point all year long. So he stepped up and did some good things for us."
 
After giving up consecutive threes to Sparks, the Roadrunners drained 10 of their final 13 field goals, and five of six from the foul line, to give them separation at the end of the game.
 
MSU guard Garrett Carter matched Sparks' 10-for-17 shooting, but added one more trey and a couple more free throws to lead his team with 29 points. Fellow starters Elijah Straughter, Maris Colton, and Mitch Lombard each contributed 15.
 
Colton managed a double-double by adding 11 rebounds.
 
For the Eagles, both Brian Rodriguez-Flores and Jacob Jefferson nearly double-doubled as well. Rodriguez Flores, also a senior, recorded 18 points to finish as the No. 24 single-season scorer in program history, with 487 points in 2019-20. Jefferson added 14 points hitting 7-of-14 from the field. Both forwards grabbed nine boards.
 
Coach Reed added that he will add two to three players in the offseason, to fill the three spots opening up. He begins recruiting almost immediately with an intention to bring in some experience from transfer players.