With their 87-77 victory over CCU Saturday, Colorado School of Mines claimed a Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference regular season title. The decision marked the fifth-straight loss for Colorado Christian against the Orediggers, and solidified a number eight seed for the blue and gold going into next week's RMAC tournament.
 
Outmatched in the paint, CCU's Cougars fell behind early in Saturday night's contest. The home Orediggers jumped on top of Colorado Christian, dominating on the glass and connecting for 48 points under the basket. The Cougars produced just 24 points in the paint.
 
Mines' dominance was on display in the opening half, allowing the Orediggers a 45-33 lead at the half-time break. Though Christian would outscore CSM in the second, their efforts weren't nearly enough to change the fate of the game. Mines' blazing 58% clip from the field and 38-25 rebounding advantage assured the win for the home team.
 
"We had a few lapses tonight and Mines was able to stretch out leads we could not recover from," explained CCU Coach Kevin Lubbers. "We had the ball down nine with two minutes to go and I thought if we scored there we had a shot. Mines made a good defensive stop and sealed it."
 
Though he couldn't lift his squad to a victory, freshman Zach McLemore closed out the regular season with an impressive 31-point effort. The guard from Tallahassee, FL had a career night, nailing a season-high six threes in addition to a game-best three steals.
 
"We play all season to get into the postseason and next week everyone is 0-0. We are excited to have a chance to be playing in March."
 
Though the regular season has wrapped, the Christian squad will look to improve on their 14-14 season mark with an upset win in the first round of the RMAC Tournament. CCU will play their first round game on the road Tuesday, but will wait until Saturday night to know who their opponent will be.