CHADRON, Neb. -- February 6, 2022 -- It went into overtime, but the Chadron State College men's basketball team posted a rousing 88-86 victory over Colorado State-Pueblo at home Sunday evening, one night after losing a heart-breaking 59-58 decision to Adams State.

The Chadron State women's team also kept the fans on the edge during the double-headers.  The Lady Eagles nipped Adams State 63-61 Saturday night, but were nudged by CSU-Pueblo 77-74, also  in overtime, Sunday evening.

The CSC men's team played much better Sunday night than it had the previous night.  After shooting just 37.7% from the field in the first game, the Eagles hit 49.2% in the second game.

Chadron State is now 9-13 for the season and 6-10 in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference, while Pueblo also is 9-13 overall and is 5-9 in the conference after also splitting its weekend's games by upsetting league-leading Black Hills State 82-59 on Saturday night in Spearfish.

The Sunday night game in Chadron was a thriller all the way with seven lead changes and 11 ties. 

The ThunderWolves had their largest lead--15-6--with 14:16 left in the first half after hitting a trio of 3-pointers during a 92-second span.

But after falling behind early the Eagles got a big boost off the bench.  Coach Shane Paben inserted Beau Bragg, a 6-foot-7 freshman who had seen limited action in previous conference games in the lineup and the Texan made six of his seven field goal shots and his only free throw for 13 points to lead both teams in scoring at halftime, when it was 36-36.

Bragg finished the game with 17 points and was one of four Eagles to finish in double figures. The others were guards Marcus Jefferson (18), Mason Hiemstra (16) and CJ Jennings (11). Center Porter Anderson and another guard, CJ Jennings, added nine apiece.

Chadron State led by nine points five times in the second half. The last was at 72-63 with 6:25 remaining.  But things got cozy down the stretch. Liam Ramiro, a remarkable freshman guard who finished the game with 37 points, scored Pueblo's last seven second half points, three of them on an old-fashioned three-point play with 33 seconds remaining to tie the count at 76-76 and send the tilt into overtime.

After Chadron State guard Marcus Jefferson broke an 80-80 deadlock halfway through the five -minute extra session, the Eagles led the rest of the way, but by never more than four points. 

Although Ramiro drove the length of the court for a layup to reduce CSC's lead to 86-85 by 15 seconds left, he also missed the second half of two free throw opportunities in the late going and a three-point attempt with a second remaining in OT, to preserve the Eagles' two-point advantage and the victory.

For the game, Ramiro was 12-of-26 from the field, including two-of-six from behind the arc and made 11-of-13 free shots.  De'Shaun Cooper, a 6-9 freshman, was 9-of-11 on his field goal tries while scoring 19 points and a third freshman, Micah Lamberth, added 12 points.

The ThunderWolves were 32-of-62 from the field, including 4-of-12 from long range, and 18-of- 24 at the charity stripe. 

Chadron State made 21 of its 25 free shots and outrebounded the Wolves 38-30. Jennings had eight, Harris seven and Bragg six rebounds.

The Eagles will visit New Mexico Highlands and Colorado-Colorado Springs this weekend.

                CSU-Pueblo—Lian Ramiro 37, De'Shaun Cooper 19, Micah Lambreth 12, Tristan Hurdle 9, Isaish Thompson 4, Malcolm Little 3, Noble Robinson 2. Totals: 32-62 (4-12) 18-24 86 points, 30 rebounds, 16 assists, 10 turnovers.
                Chadron State—Marcus Jefferson 18, Beau Bragg 17, Mason Hiemsta 16, CJ Jennings 11, Porter Anderson 9, KJ Harris 9, Teddy Parham 7, Taj Toney 1. Totals: 31-63, (5-13) 21-25 88 points, 38 rebounds, 19 assists, 13 turnovers.

                CSU-Pueblo           36         40           10        ---86
                Chadron State       36         40           12       ---88

                3-pointers: CSU-P—Ramiro 2, Lamberth 1, Hurdle 1.  CSC—Jefferson 2, Jennings 2, Parham 1.