CHADRON, Neb. – After a three-week opening stretch of nonconference play, Chadron State men's basketball will play RMAC games for the first time this weekend, facing nationally-ranked Black Hills State on the road Thursday and hosting South Dakota Mines on Saturday.

The Eagles (2-5, 0-0 RMAC) will face No. 21 BHSU (6-1, 1-0 RMAC) at 7 p.m. in the Donald E. Young Center, then face South Dakota Mines (2-6, 0-1 RMAC) at 3 p.m. in the Chicoine Center. 

The Yellow Jackets and Hardrockers kicked off RMAC play by facing one another Tuesday night, with the nationally-ranked 'Jackets winning handily by a 104-76 score.

Both games (Thursday in Spearfish and Saturday in Chadron) will be available to stream live on the RMAC Network. Eagle fans can also listen live on Double Q Country FM and doubleqcountry.com, with Dave Collins on the call, or follow along with online live statistics.
 
Looking Back
The Eagles went 1-1 during a Thanksgiving weekend homestand, defeating Northern State 74-73 before losing to RMAC opponent Colorado Christian in a non-conference matchup by a 61-57 score.

RECAPS: Northern State | Colorado Christian

The win over Northern State was the CSC program's first in nine matchups against the Wolves and was the second one-point win in as many home games for the 2025-26 Eagles prior to Sunday's loss. The lead changed hands 13 times against NSU.

Chadron State had a 20-point scorer in each contest, with Mack Keighran pouring in 21 points against the Wolves and Jadon Cool scoring 22 against CCU. Cool has now scored 22 points twice in three home games, also doing so against UMary on November 19.

RMAC Network Reminder
As a reminder, RMAC Network games this season now require a pay-per-view subscription to watch. Revenue generated by the network will be redistributed to the league's membership to enhance their broadcast systems and programs.
 
NEWS: RMAC Network Moves To Pay-Per-View Model
 
RMAC fans can purchase monthly and annual subscriptions that will provide them access to all regular-season, championship, and archived broadcasts on the RMAC Network, including both home and away RMAC contests for Chadron State. A monthly subscription costs $25, and an annual subscription (for all sports) costs $130. Single-game passes are available for $10, which grants the viewer access to a single game for 24 hours. Subscriptions can be purchased through Hudl at rmacnetwork.com. 
 
RMAC Network subscriptions apply to any game that is hosted by an RMAC institution, regardless of whether or not Chadron State is playing in the game. CSC's home nonconference games are included in monthly and annual subscriptions. 
 
Fans will technical support issues can contact Hudl, visit the RMAC email the RMAC Network FAQ page, or directly email the RMAC at rmac@rmacsports.org.

Season Tickets/Parking
Season tickets to support Eagle men's and women's basketball remain on sale. 
 
Fans can purchase a reserved seat season for $175 or a general admission season ticket for $100 per seat. Season tickets grant access to all 10 remaining home RMAC doubleheaders for men's and women's basketball (Dec. 6, 11, 13; Jan. 15, 17, 27; Feb. 12, 14, 26, 28).
 
For fans attending all games, season tickets provide a $35 savings on reserved seats and a $25 savings on general admission compared to purchase single-game pricing for every home game.
 
Additionally, Chadron State is offering paid parking stalls for fans who would like to reserve a private parking space close to the arena for all games. Each stall costs $150 for the season and will be marked off with a personalized sign. 
 
Close Calls
Chadron State has had two one-point victories so far in 2025-26. 
 
Against UMary, senior guard Zach Smith hit a go-ahead three-pointer with 9.5 seconds remaining to give the Eagles an 83-82 win. Then, against Northern State, freshman Luka Djurovic hit a turnaround hook shot over two defenders off an inbounds pass with 2.9 seconds to go to put CSC up by one in its 74-73 win. 
 
The early-season results are a welcome sight for a CSC program that was snakebit by one-possession games last season. In 2024-25, the Eagles were 2-3 in one-possession games but had three losses at the buzzer to Texas A&M Kingsville, New Mexico Highlands and MSU Denver. 
 
Gotta Get Going
Slow starts plagued the Eagles in both games last week, and although the Eagles rallied to make each game extremely competitive in the second half, CSC left themselves work to do after the first five minutes. 

Against Northern State, CSC trailed 16-5 after five minutes of play but rallied to take the lead midway through the first half and were down by five points at halftime before winning. 

Against Colorado Christian, CSC made only 2 of its first 13 field goal attempts as the Cougars went up 20-9 after nine minutes. A quick 5-0 run out of halftime gave CSC its only lead of the game early in the second half at 32-31, but the Cougars led for the remainder of the game.

In the Polls
Chadron State was picked seventh out of 15 teams in the RMAC Preseason Coaches Poll, receiving one first-place vote. 

Black Hills State was picked to win the league, receiving 10 of 15 first place votes, while reigning champs Colorado School of Mines were second, receiving three first-place votes. Colorado Mesa received the final first-place vote and finished third while UCCS and Fort Lewis rounded out the top five. 

The remainder of the RMAC tournament positions were filled by MSU Denver, the Eagles and Colorado Christian. The poll was rounded out by Adams State, Westminster, New Mexico Highlands, CSU Pueblo, Western Colorado, Regis and South Dakota Mines. 

Coach's Corner
Chadron State Head Coach Chris Francis is in his second season leading the Eagle men's basketball program. In his first season, Francis put together a 15-14 overall record with an 11-9 record in RMAC play. The Eagles qualified for the RMAC tournament as the No. 8 seed.

Francis comes to Chadron after serving as the head coach at the University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma (NAIA) where Francis compiled a record of 176-94 in nine seasons. 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.