CHADRON – The Chadron State College men’s basketball team got its second win of the season and in Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference play Saturday night at Armstrong Gymnasium as the Eagles fought off pesky Regis, 72-61.
The Eagles first home victory broke a 9-game losing streak since beating Regis in Denver before Christmas.
The back-and-forth game had 10 ties and 7 lead changes. CSC was up 37-34 at intermission and built a 9-point lead in the second half, only to see Regis tie the score at 61 with just over 3:00 to go.
It was all CSC after that, as they finished the game on an 11-0 run with Zac Bargen getting 8 of them. Bargen nailed his only 3 of the game with 1:53 remain to give the Eagles the lead, then followed that up with a tough layup to make it 66-61.
Justyn Anderson continued the run with 1-2 from the foul line, Bargen came back with 3-4 free throws, and Kendrick Holliman capped the scoring with his third dunk of the night with 13-seconds remaining.
The Eagles led 37-34 at halftime and used some stifling defense in the second half to limit the Rangers to 39 percent shooting.
For the game, Chadron State took care of the basketball – the Eagles committed just 11 turnovers – and shot 50 percent from the floor.
Bargen led the Eagles with 22 points on 7 of 13 shooting. Anderson chipped in 10 and Kyle Vinich finished with nine for the Eagles. The Rangers (6-12, 5-10 RMAC) were led by Kevin Marshall, who scored 17, and Jon Conley with 14.
The Eagles (2-17, 2-13 RMAC) next travel to a pair of Colorado schools as they visit Western State in Gunnison on Friday and Grand Junction on Saturday to meet Colorado Mesa.