CHADRON, Neb. – Despite a dominant double-double from Isaiah Randolph, Chadron State men's basketball came a couple baskets short against New Mexico Highlands as the visiting Cowboys gutted out an 88-84 victory over the Eagles in the Chicoine Center on Saturday. 

The Cowboys were just tantalizingly out of reach for practically the entire game. While NMHU held the lead for nearly 30 minutes, or three-quarters of the game, the Cowboys never led by more than seven at any point and led by between one and four points for the entire final four minutes of the contest.

Randolph did his part, setting Chadron State career-highs with 29 points and 12 rebounds. Randolph was 7 of 13 from the field and a staggering 15 of 17 from the free-throw line. In addition, seven of Randolph's 12 rebounds were offensive boards as the Eagles corralled 19 offensive rebounds as a team. 

Those offensive rebounds and extra chances helped the Eagles keep it close on a night where they were handily outshot. New Mexico Highlands made 59 percent of its field goal attempts (29-49), including a 65 percent mark in the second half. The Cowboys were also 46.9 percent from three and 76.7 percent from the line. 

Chadron State shot just 35.3 percent from the field and 26.3 percent from three (10-38), but were 83.9 percent from the line (26-31). The Cowboys outrebounded the Eagles 34-32, but because of Chadron State's 19 offensive rebounds, the Eagles had 68 total field goal attempts compared to just 49 by NMHU. 

Jadon Cool chipped in 19 points while Mack Keighran backed up his 30-point night from Thursday with an 18-point performance. Those two did most of CSC's damage from beyond the arc as Keighran (four) and Cool (three) combined for seven of Chadron State's 10 three-pointers. 

Chadron State had 13 offensive rebounds in the first half to trail by just five at halftime – 37-32 – despite shooting 27 percent from the field and 19 percent from three in the opening 20 minutes. A mini 5-0 run that saw Zach Smith hit a three, Blessing Adesipe get a steal on the ensuing possession and a fastbreak shooting foul drawn by Cool, who converted both free throws, made it 47-47 for the first tie score of the second half with 14:15 to play. 

The Eagles briefly took a three-point lead when Mack Keighran hit a three, but a 6-0 Cowboys run made it 53-50. The Eagles rallied to tie the score twice more at 64-64, 66-66 and 69-69 after Cool and NMHU's Ramiah Adedigba hit dueling threes.

On the next Eagle possession, CSC scrambled to keep a loose ball alive and found Smith in the corner for a miracle three that seemingly put the home team ahead by three, but upon replay review, Smith did not get the shot off before the shot clock buzzer and CSC turned it over. Highlands capitalized by scoring the next four points and maintained their one-to-four-point cushion for the rest of the game. CSC came within one numerous times, but didn't attempt a game-tying shot until Jadon Cool and Ethan Russell both missed threes with CSC trailing 85-82 with 20 seconds left. 

Chadron State is now 3-12 and 1-7 in the RMAC. New Mexico Highlands improves to 6-13 overall, but 4-4 in conference. 

The Eagles play at Westminster (7-9, 2-6 RMAC) on Thursday and Colorado Mesa (10-6, 6-2 RMAC) on Saturday.

​Chadron State—Isaiah Randolph 29, Jadon Cool 19, Mack Keighran 18, Zach Smith 7, Ethan Russell 6, Collin Nick 3, Blessing Adesipe 2. Totals: 24-68 FG (10-38 3PT) 26-31 FT. 84 points, 32 rebounds, 11 assists, 12 turnovers.

​New Mexico Highlands—Marcus Pierce 21, Ramiah Adedigba 18, BJ Comer 14, Dontae Walker 12, Nikk Williams 12, Caileb Parham 5, Ibrahima Sacko 4, Wesley Isoje 2. Totals: 29-49 FG (7-15 3PT) 23-30 FT. 88 points, 34 rebounds, 14 assists, 18 turnovers.