CHADRON, Neb. – After a gritty win and last-second loss on the road, Chadron State men's basketball returns to the friendly confines of the Chicoine Center for two key RMAC games as the league standings continue to take shape. 

Chadron State (7-9, 3-5 RMAC) will host Westminster (9-7, 3-5 RMAC) on Thursday night at 7 p.m. before welcoming Colorado Mesa (10-6, 4-4 RMAC) on Saturday afternoon at 3 p.m.

Both games will be live streamed by CSC Live on the RMAC Network. They will also be broadcast on the radio on Double Q Country 97.5 and 105.9 FM with Dave Collins on the call. Tickets remain available for both games and can be purchased online or at the door. 

Looking Back
The Eagles earned a tough road win, knocking off Adams State 91-86 for their first win in Alamosa since 2009, before falling in overtime to New Mexico Highlands by a 97-96 score. 

RECAPS: Adams State | New Mexico Highlands

The loss to Highlands, which CSC sustained on a buzzer-beating three-pointer that took several minutes of video review to uphold, is the latest in a string of heartbreakers for the Eagles. 

It marks both the second straight matchup that New Mexico Highlands has defeated Chadron State in overtime (the Cowboys won 90-82 in OT in Chadron last season) and is the second time this year that CSC has lost at the buzzer, with Texas A&M-Kingsville previously beating the Eagles 73-71 at the last second, also in overtime. 

Dynamic Duo
Chadron State has a pair of bona fide playmaking guards in senior Zy Wright and grad student Jalen Thomas. Both players averaged over 20 points per game over the past week. 

Wright averaged 26 points per game, led by a career-high 34 points in the overtime loss to NMHU. Wright's previous career-high had been 24 points, which he had achieved on three separate occasions this season. 

Wright, a transfer from University of Texas-Permian Basin, shot 11 of 16 from the field, 4 of 7 from three-point range and 8 of 9 from the line during his 34-point performance, also grabbing eight rebounds. He added another eight boards along with 18 points in the win over Adams State. 

Jalen Thomas, a grad transfer from Tarleton State, scored 22 points in each of CSC's two games last weekend, and added 23 the game before that against Regis on January 11. Thomas shot 66.7 percent from the floor for the week, sinking 7 of 11 shots against Adams State and 9 of 13 against New Mexico Highlands. Thomas also added nine assists against the Cowboys, finishing just shy of a double-double. 

For the season, Wright leads the Eagles with 13.3 points per game with Thomas just behind at 12.6. They rank 17^th and 21^st, respectively, in the RMAC in scoring. Thomas ranks eighth in the RMAC in field goal percentage, shooting 50.6 percent from the floor, while Wright is seventh in the league in free-throw percentage (.840). 

On The Boards
Chadron State currently leads the RMAC in combined team rebounds per game, pulling down 37.1 rebounds per contest. That's just ahead of MSU Denver (36.9) and CSU Pueblo (36.5). 

The Eagles rank fourth in team defensive rebounds per game (26.6) and fifth in team offensive boards per game (10.4). Chadron State is ninth in rebound margin (+1.4), meaning the Eagles average one-and-a-half more rebounds than their opponents per game.

Despite the high team totals, Chadron State's rebounding has been a collective effort this season. The Eagles have seven different players averaging between three and six rebounds per contest – Zy Wright (5.4), Jalen Thomas (4.9), John Jenkins (4.7), Julio Phipps (4.4), Darrius Miles (3.8), Trey Harris (3.6) and Trey Ballard (3.3).

No Easy Buckets
While Chadron State's scoring defense (74.8 points per game) is middle of the pack in the RMAC, a significant portion of CSC's points against have come from other teams getting to the line. The Eagles rank among the best teams in the league at limiting the opposition's field goal percentages. 

Chadron State is holding opponents to a cumulative .419 field-goal percentage, the second-best mark in the RMAC. The Eagles are even better in three-point field goal defense, as opponents shoot just 30 percent from deep against CSC. That is the second-lowest percentage in the RMAC (narrowly behind CSU Pueblo's 29.5 percent) and ranks 27^th in Division II.

Lineup Shuffle
After appearing in 13 of CSC's first 14 games off the bench, forward Julio Phipps started both of Chadron State's contests last weekend and logged a season-high 31 minutes against New Mexico Highlands. 

Just because he wasn't in the starting lineup doesn't mean Phipps hasn't played a big role on the 2024-25 Eagles, however. Despite making just three starts, the New York native is the team's third-leading scorer with 10.4 points per game and ranks fifth on the team in minutes per game (22.3). 

Phipps also has made the most of his opportunities near the hoop, leading the team with a .611 field-goal percentage. Phipps's field-goal percentage would rank fifth in the RMAC if the New York native had enough shot attempts to qualify for the RMAC leaderboard. Phipps also leads the Eagles with 14 blocks this season.

More Than Five
The Eagles have been far more than just their starting unit throughout the season. Chadron State ranks second in the RMAC and 33^rd in Division II in bench points per game, receiving 29.94 points per contest from non-starters. 

Chadron State players have been productive even while moving in and out of head coach Chris Francis's lineup. Only two players (John Jenkins and Jalen Thomas) have started every game for the Eagles this season. 

Across Chadron State's 14 games, no less than eight different Eagles have led the team in scoring during a game this season.

Free Points
Chadron State has excelled at the free-throw line this season, leading the RMAC and ranking 16^th in all of Division II with a 78.4 percent team percentage. 

The Eagles padded those numbers this past week, shooting 21-for-22 from the line as a team against Adams State, including 15-for-16 in the second half, and 13-for-16 overall against New Mexico Highlands.

Zy Wright is the team's top free throw shooter in terms of volume. Wright leads CSC in free throw makes (63) and attempts (75) for an .840 free-throw percentage, which ranks eighth overall in the RMAC. Wright shot 6-for-6 on Thursday and 8-for-9 on Saturday from the stripe. 

Lights Out
Chadron State had historical offensive output on December 16 in their 107-50 win over Central Christian.  

The Eagles made 43 of 64 field goal attempts (.672) and were even better, percentage-wise, from three-point land, sinking 16 of 23 attempts for a .696 percentage, which is the best single-game percentage by an RMAC team this season. 

Chadron State's 16 made three-pointers are just two off the single-game school record of 18, set on November 21, 2021 against Haskell Indian Nations. That game also featured the single-game program record for assists (35). 
The 57-point margin of victory is the second highest in school history, trailing only a 103-45 CSC win over South Dakota Mines in November of 1998. Ironically, the Hardrockers had defeated Chadron State by 10 points just 11 days before that 58-point blowout. 

In the Polls
Each of Division II's predominant ranking polls – the NABC Coaches Poll and the D2CSC Media Poll – feature two nationally-ranked RMAC teams in Colorado School of Mines and MSU Denver. 

The NABC poll features Mines at No. 7 and MSU Denver at No. 13. The media has both teams rated higher, with Mines at No. 6 and MSU Denver at No. 11.

The D2CSC South Central regional rankings have three RMAC teams among the region's top 10. Colorado School of Mines is the unanimous No. 1 team in the region, while MSU Denver is No. 2 and Fort Lewis is No. 10. 

Lone Star Conference teams (Dallas Baptist, Midwestern State, St. Mary's, Lubbock Christian, West Texas A&M, Angelo State and UTPB) populate No. 3-No. 9. Dallas Baptist is the only nationally-ranked team in the LSC, coming in at No. 12 in the Coaches Poll and No. 14 (behind MSU Denver) in the media poll.

The weekly polls and rankings do not yet factor in MSU Denver's Tuesday loss to Regis, which dropped the Roadrunners to 8-1 in RMAC play at 14-3 overall. Regis is 7-2, third place in the conference standings.

With a new coaching staff and predominantly new players, Chadron State men's basketball was picked 15^thin the preseason RMAC Coaches Poll for the 2024-25 campaign. 

Colorado School of Mines, who finished third in the league last season, were picked first for this year, receiving 11 of 15 first-place votes. MSU Denver received two first-place votes to come second, followed by Regis in third, which received one first-place vote. 

Black Hills State was fourth in the poll, while Colorado Mesa received the final first-place vote and finished fifth. The rest of the poll includes CSU Pueblo, UCCS and New Mexico Highlands in the final RMAC Tournament positions, followed by Fort Lewis, South Dakota Mines, Western Colorado, Westminster, Adams State, Colorado Christian, and the Eagles. 

Scouting the Griffins
Westminster is currently 9-7 overall and 3-5 in RMAC play. The Griffins are coming off an 0-2 weekend where they lost to Western Colorado and Colorado Mesa but knocked off Adams State and Fort Lewis at home the week before. The Griffins were picked to finish 12^th in the RMAC preseason poll.

Westminster's top scorers are senior Chase Potter (16.3 points per game) and junior Simon Akena (15.6). Potter is currently the RMAC's fourth-leading scorer. Parker Christensen ranks third in the RMAC in assists with 3.9 per game, 62 in total. 

Veteran head coach Norm Parrish is in his 10^th season at Westminster and led the Griffins during their transition into Division II. Parrish won an RMAC Coach of the Year award in 2017-18.

Scouting the Mavericks
It's a new era in Grand Junction. Colorado Mesa won each of the last two RMAC regular season championships, but head coach Mike DeGeorge – and much of the team – departed for Division I. 

The new head coach is Mike Dunlap, who won two NCAA Division II national championships with MSU Denver in the early 2000's and went on to coach the NBA's Charlotte Bobcats. CMU got off to a slow start under Dunlap, but enter the week on a six-game winning streak and are 10-6 overall with a 4-4 RMAC record. 

While only four of CMU's 15 players remain from last season, one of them, Ty Allred, is the team's leading scorer at 14.5 points per game, up from the 3.1 he averaged in 2024-25. Two others score in double digits, Harvey White (10.8 points per game) and Will Mortimore (10.7). Center Yaak Yaak leads the RMAC with 29 blocked shots. 

White, Mortimore and Yaak are three of eight Australians on the CMU roster, a product on Dunlap beginning his coaching career in that country and maintaining strong recruiting ties there.  

Coach's Corner
Chadron State Head Coach Chris Francis is in his first season leading the Eagle men's basketball program. Francis comes to Chadron after serving as the head coach at the University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma (NAIA) since 2015. 

At USAO, Francis put together a career record of 176-94. Francis led the Drovers to five NAIA National Tourney appearances, a Sooner Athletic Conference Championship, and a Sooner Athletic Conference Tournament Championship, also taking USAO to an NAIA Elite Eight. Francis is a two-time Sooner Athletic Conference Coach of the Year, winning the award in 2017 and 2022. 

A former student-athlete, Francis was a starting guard and captain of the men's basketball team at Rogers State University. In 2011, he helped lead Rogers State to the NAIA Elite Eight and a 30-2 record. Following that season, Francis was named the Sooner Athletic Conference Defensive Player of the Year. He was recently inducted into the Rogers State Athletic Hall of Fame.