Regis (CO) Regis 13-11,10-8 RMAC

South Dakota Mines SDSMT 9-14,7-10 RMAC

Regis (CO) Regis

13-11,10-8 RMAC

Final

Feb. 16, 2024

South Dakota Mines SDSMT

9-14,7-10 RMAC

Score By Periods
Team	1	2	F
Regis (CO) Regis	36	46	82
South Dakota Mines SDSMT	31	37	68

Summary
Box Score

Caty Llamas, Regis Athletics

Regis guard Eddy Egun scored 19 points on 8-of-10 shooting Friday (File Photo).

Game Recap: Men's Basketball | Feb 16 | David Wilson, Assistant AD-Communications

Rangers dominate the paint, begin road trip with 82-68 win over SD Mines

RAPID CITY, S.D. — The Regis University men's basketball team opened an critical South Dakota road trip on Friday, dominating the paint in an 82-68 bounce back victory over South Dakota Mines inside the King Center.

Regis (13-11 overall, 10-8 RMAC), winners of its last three road games, moved back to within a half-game of fourth place in the RMAC standings with the victory, while the loss dropped the Hardrockers (9-14 overall, 7-10 RMAC) into the eighth and final playoff spot in the conference with five games remaining.

"I thought this game was a good measuring stick for us, the improvements we've made, and not just in the last few weeks but over the last couple of months. This was one of our best 40-minute efforts that we've put together this season," said Regis head men's basketball coach, Brady Bergeson. "It's not easy putting a true 40-minutes of intensity and consistent play so I really credit our guys for that."

HOW IT HAPPENED
The Rangers never trailed outside of the game's opening basket on Friday, leaning on a balanced offensive attack that saw four players finish in double-figures, led by the guard tandem of redshirt junior Eddy Egun and sophomore Chase Mayo Harmon with 19 points apiece.

Regis stormed out to an 11-2 lead by the 16:18 mark of the first half, capped off by an Egun 3-pointer in transition, and led by as many as 14 points during the opening period.

The lone setback for the Rangers in the first half was turnovers as they committed 10 of their 13 giveaways in the opening 20 minutes, helping the Hardrockers creep back to within five points at 36-31 at the break.

"We were a little sloppy in the first half and a few of those turnovers were offensive fouls. But to only have three turnovers in the second half was a big factor," Bergeson said. "We shot the ball well, our shot selection was really good both halves, and when we didn't hand the other team 10 possessions that certainly made a big difference."

After shooting a sizzling 55.6 percent (15-for-27) in the first half, the Rangers' offense kept on clicking in the final period as Regis shot 60.7% (17-for-28) over the final 20 minutes and 58.2% (32-for-55) for the game.

Regis did the bulk of its damage inside the painted area, outscoring the Hardrockers, 54-24, in the paint and grabbed nine offensive rebounds of its 23 missed shots for the game to hold an 18-11 edge in second-chance points.

"We did a really good job staying relentless with our penetration and cutting on offense instead of settling for OK shots. I thought we passed up a lot of shots that, maybe a month ago, we probably would have taken and instead got better ones at the rim," Bergeson said. "As a byproduct of that aggressiveness, we got some of (SD Mines) guys in foul trouble. Their starters log pretty heavy minutes so if you can get them in foul trouble, it really hurts them."

Freshman guard Ty Cox scored eight of his 12 points off the bench in the second half, and junior guard Trey Bryant again narrowly missed a double-double with 11 points and team-high eight rebounds, to help round out the balanced Regis attack.

Defensively, Regis limited South Dakota Mines to 37.3% (22-for-59) shooting on the night while senior forward Tarig Eisa, the RMAC's leading shot blocker, had a big night at the rim as he swatted away four blocks to go with his seven points and six rebounds.

UP NEXT
Regis will conclude its South Dakota road trip on Saturday when it takes on a surging Black Hills State University squad (12-11 overall, 10-7 RMAC) that is battling the Rangers for a top-4 spot in the RMAC standings and that has won four of its past six games.

Tip-off is scheduled for 6 p.m. Saturday at the Donald E. Young Center in Spearfish, S.D.

"It's an important game with a team we're in direct competition with for playoff seeding. And I think, while there are a lot of teams getting better in the RMAC right now, but I'd say arguably the two teams that have improved at the best rate are us and Black Hills State," Bergeson said. "Both teams are going to be very, very different than what they looked like two months ago when they came down to play us in December. We're expecting a physical game and all-out battle. We're excited for the challenge."

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