After playing makeup games against the Regis Rangers in Denver on Monday and at Colorado-Colorado Springs on Tuesday, the Chadron State College basketball teams headed west to Colorado Mesa at Grand Junction and Westminster College at Salt Lake City for games this weekend.
                The Eagles will meet the Mesa Mavericks on Friday night and play the Westminster Griffins on Saturday night. 
                The big question for Chadron State will be: Can the Eagles' men bounce back from their only poor performance of the season--a 91-63 loss to the Colorado Springs Mountain Lions on Tuesday night—their third game in four days. The Eagles were weary and shot just 26% in the first half and 32% overall. 
                Afterwards, Coach Shane Paben said his team has to "recharge the battery and regroup." The Eagles had won eight of nine games prior to the disaster.  They are now 8-5 overall and 5-2 in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference.   
The Mesa men also are 5-2 in the RMAC. They ended 2022 with five straight conference wins after losing the first two to Colorado Mines and Metro State. Overall, they are 10-3 for the season. 
                A pair of sophomores are the Mavericks' top guns.  Blaise Threatt, who is 6-foot-3, is averaging 16.5 points and 6-9 Trevor Baskin is averaging 15.2.  Both are shooting more than 50% from the field and are averaging at least seven rebounds. 
                The Westminster men have four players averaging in double figures, but have just a 3-11 record overall and are 2-5 against RMAC rivals.  Their conference wins have been over Metro State and Fort Lewis.
                The latter outcome was a shocker.  It was by a 93-79 score and remains the Skyhawks' only loss during their 11-1 season. So far this winter, Westminster's top scorer is 6-9 Trey Farrer with a 17.4-point average while shooting 55% from the field. 
                The Chadron State women won their second game of the season—77-70—over Metro State on New Year's Eve, when Shay Powers scored 26 points and Samiyah Worrell 19 and both grabbed eight rebounds.  However, they did not win either of the road games this week and expect to have their hands full again at Mesa and Westminster.
                The Mesa women are not as potent as usual. During the past 10 years when Taylor Wagner has been the Lady Mavs' head coach, they compiled a 231-61 record while going 174-44 in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference.  They have won at least 14 games each season and won 21 or more seven times.