SHAWNEE, Okla. – Chadron State men's basketball only led for 1:54 of game time during a Saturday evening showdown with Texas A&M-International, but the Eagles ended the game on a 9-0 run and secured their first win of the season – 84-77 – over the Dustdevils from the Noble Complex at Oklahoma Baptist University.
The win improves CSC to 1-2 on the season and a split 1-1 weekend at the crossover hosted in Shawnee. Texas A&M-International falls to 0-2 with the loss.
For the second night in a row,
Ronyo Obou was Chadron State's leading scorer. The Houston, Texas native shot 8-for-16 from the field, including 4-for-10 from three-point range, to finish with 26 points.
Patric Prince got it done at both ends of the court on Saturday, making 5 of 9 field goals and 7 of 8 free throws on his way to a 17-point night while chipping in eight rebounds and five steals and two blocks on the defensive end.
Zyon Little finished with 11 points and tied Prince with eight rebounds and two blocks, both team-highs.
Caleb Hannah, a Chicago native who missed what would have been his first season last year with CSC due to an offseason injury, chipped in 10 points to clear double digits for the first time as an Eagle.
Texas A&M-International outshot Chadron State, converting 52 percent of their shots from the field and 52.4 percent of their threes (11-21) while the Eagles made just 41.5 percent of their total shots and 25 percent of their shots from deep (8-32).
Chadron State overcame the shooting difference by outrebounding the Dustdevils 39-27 and forcing TAMIU into 20 turnovers while CSC only committed 13. The Eagles had 13 steals to the Dustdevils' four, and had 30 points off turnovers and 18 fast-break points.
The Eagles also controlled the interior, outscoring TAMIU 36-30 in the paint and blocking six shots while the Dustdevils had zero. Chadron State also got to the line 28 times (making 22) while Texas A&M-International had only 18 free throw attempts.
Texas A&M-International raced up by 12 just over 10 minutes into the game and led by six at halftime. Chadron State cut the lead to two on a couple of occasions early in the second half, but the Dustdevils opened the lead back up to double digits with as little as 7:25 remaining.
Chadron State used an 8-0 run to get back in it. Prince converted an and-one three-point play before Obou scored two baskets sandwiched around a free throw from
Vincent Tedeschi to make it 70-68, TAMIU. Tedeschi converted a three-point play soon after to give CSC their first second-half lead at 73-72.
With Texas A&M-International leading 77-75 with two minutes to go, the Eagles would score the final nine points of the game while forcing the Dustdevils to miss their final four field goal attempts.
Zyon Little hit a jumper in the paint to tie it, then after a Dustdevil miss,
Caleb Hannah hit a go-ahead three with 1:11 to go off an assist from Tedeschi, who finished with a team-high seven. Chadron State scored its final four points from the free-throw line to extend the margin as TAMIU continued to miss shots.
Chadron State is back in action with three more games next week. The Eagles face Nebraska-Kearney in their home opener on Wednesday, November 18 at noon before heading to Sioux Falls, South Dakota to face Sioux Falls on Friday and Augustana on Saturday.
Chadron State—Ronyo Obou 26,
Patric Prince 17,
Zyon Little 11,
Caleb Hannah 10,
Vincent Tedeschi 8,
Patrick Punch 8,
Konnor Kralik 2,
Chayse Vincent 2.
Totals: 27-65 FG (8-32 3PT) 22-28 FT. 84 points, 39 rebounds, 15 assists, 13 turnovers.
Texas A&M-International—Aaron Perez 17, Jalexs Ewing 16, Jayden Barnes 11, Luke Oxford 10, Landon Winston 8, Thomas Tangle 6, Phalen Pounds 4, Oryne Stewart Jr. 3, David Emelife 2.
Totals: 26-50 FG (11-21 3PT) 14-18 FT. 77 points, 27 rebounds, 17 assists, 20 turnovers.
