LAKEWOOD, CO – Looking to snap out of a 2020 funk, the Colorado Christian men's basketball could not crack the win column.

South Dakota Mines kept a steady lead a majority of the contest to post an 85-73 victory on Saturday evening.

HOW IT HAPPENED: South Dakota Mines held a lead for nearly 38 minutes aided by strong play in the paint followed with an efficient performance from the foul line in the closing minutes.

The Hardrocks posted a 46-26 scoring advantage down low then finished with a handful of free points late. The end of the game was a foul shooting contest. South Dakota Mines made 21 of their 28 attempts down the stretch while Colorado Christian went to the charity stripe 13 times with 11 successful attempts.

The Hardrockers raced out to an 11-3 lead less than five minutes into the contest. However, the Colorado Christian offense found a rhythm as they rallied back to take a 16-15 lead just past the stanza's midway point. However, a late scoring spurt to end the half gave South Dakota Mines a 33-25 lead heading into the locker room.

Ultimately that spurt went into the second half as the visitors built a 41-27 lead with just under 17 minutes remaining. Despite the Cougars cutting their deficit to six points on two occasions over the next 10-plus minutes, South Dakota Mines continued to hold a lead as they eventually built a 57-42 advantage.

With just over three minutes left Elijah Oliver nailed a three-pointer to get the Cougars within single digits (65-56). That nine-point barrier was as close as Colorado Christian got down the stretch.

COUGAR LEADERS: Jake Hornick had a team high 17 points in 30-plus minutes of court time. Oliver came off the bench to knock down 7-of-10 field goal attempts for 16 points. Justin Engesser registered a 15-point effort to round out the double-digit scorers for the home team.

INSIDE THE BOXSCORE

• There were just nine total fouls in the first half then 30 in the final half
• Neither team made a shot from the charity stripe until 12:51 left in the game when Jack Fiddler connected
• All but four of South Dakota Mines points came from its starters
• Luke Martin earned his first career start
• This was just the fifth all-time meeting between the two schools

UP NEXT: The Cougars start a four-game road swing next Friday when they travel to #19 Dixie State for a 7:30 p.m. tip-off against the Trailblazers.