Bears get by Hardrockers

By Padraic Duffy, Journal staff Monday, December 10, 2007

RAPID CITY — The South Dakota Mines men’s basketball team lost a heartbreaker to the No. 24-ranked NAIA Division I Rocky Mountain Bears on Saturday night at Goodell Gymnasium 69-66.

“That might be as talented a team as we play all year, and we were right there with them,” Mines head coach Jason Henry said. “It’s the same old story. We just couldn’t quite come up with the plays down the stretch when we needed them.”

The Hardrockers held a 66-63 lead with 32 seconds remaining after A.J. Trennepohl buried his third 3-pointer of the final eight minutes, but Rocky rattled off six unanswered points in the final half-minute to seal the win.

After Trennepohl’s triple put Mines ahead, the Bears got a bucket from Alvis Dowiels. The Hardrockers tried to inbound the ball but Rocky’s Elijah Swan came up with it deep in the left corner before driving the baseline and getting a lay-in to make it a 67-66 game with just over 13 seconds to play.

“That was just one more example of our inexperience showing,” Henry said.

“The inbounds pass was obviously big, but we still got what we wanted even after that play.”

The Hardrockers had a chance when Robbie Fedor beat his primary defender off the dribble, but Rocky Mountain’s Devin Uskoski rotated to block the 15-foot jumper, held onto the ball and hit two free throws to put his team up 69-66. Trennepohl got a decent look at the buzzer from 3-point range but his shot came up just short.

“We got what we wanted,” Henry said. “We had the defense rotating and if we just make a bounce pass under the bucket there we’ve probably got a lay-up, but instead we took the shot, it got blocked and that was pretty much the game.”

Brandon Smith played a nice game for the Hardrockers, finishing with 19 points on 9-of-14 shooting. The 6-foot-8 junior and Rocky Mountain’s Chase Sukut — a transfer from Wisconsin-Green Bay — tied for game-high scoring honors. Trennepohl added 17 for the Hardrockers and Michael Ross chipped in with 12.

Mines (4-8) will play Great Falls, Mont., on Saturday at 7 p.m. at Goodell Gymnasium.