CHADRON, Neb. – After breaking a 2-2 tie, the West Texas A&M Buffaloes led the rest of the way while defeating the Chadron State College men's basketball team 98-76 in a non-conference game played in Canyon, Texas, on Friday, Nov 13.  

?It was the season-opener for the Eagles, while West Texas is now 3-0.  The two teams will play again at noon (MT) on Saturday.

Isaiah Randolph recorded a double-double with 19 points and 11 rebounds for the Eagles to lead four CSC players in double figures. Chadron State shot 46.8 percent from the field and made 25 of 29 free throw attempts, but West Texas A&M was even better, shooting 53.7 percent from the floor.

?Although the Buffaloes jumped out to a 12-4 lead in the first four minutes and were ahead 29-18 midway through the opening half, the Eagles put up a great fight for the next 10 minutes. Two free throws by Randolph cut the Texas team's lead to just two points at 37-35 with 3:50 left in the half. ?However, the Eagles were outscored 8-2 the remainder of the half, allowing West Texas to carry a 45-37 lead into intermission.

?Both teams shot exactly 50 percent from the field in the first half. Chadron State was 10 of 20 and West Texas was 17 of 35 and had one more 3-pointer to its credit. The Eagles remained within striking distance because they had made 13 of 15 free throws and the home team was just six of nine from the line.

?West Texas outscored the Eagles 53-39 in the second half and broke the game open down the stretch. The Buffaloes led by double digits for the final 14:41 of game time and opened up their largest lead of 25 points with 1:56 to go before the 22-point final margin of victory.

Nine players scored for each team, but six Buffaloes reached double figures, and four for the Eagles.

?Chadron State's leading scorer was Randolph, a 6-foot-4 junior who did not start, but played the most minutes (27) and finished with 19 points while going 4 of 6 from the field and 11 of 12 from the free throw strip. Randolph's 11 rebounds were at least five more than any other member of either team.

?Also scoring in double figures for CSC were Jovan Jovanovic with 14 and Mack Keighran and Zach Smith with 10 apiece. Jovanovic hit three of CSC's seven three-pointers.

West Texas was paced by 6-foot-2 guard Fontaine Williams with 21 points, who went a game-best 4-of-6 from 3-point range. He also was his team's top scorer in the Buffs' wins over Missouri Western and Pittsburg State two weeks ago. 

Jailyn Sledge was second on the hosts' scoring list with 17 points, followed by Zach Brown with 15, James Parlow and Kemper Jones, both with 13, and Brendan Ballard with 10. ?

? The Buffs shot 57.6 percent (19-33) and CSC 44.4 percent (12-27) from the field in the second half. West Texas was 12-33 for the game from 3-point range and the Eagles seven of 19. CSC finished 25-29 at the free throw line and the Buffs 14-20. West Texas had only five turnovers; the Eagles 12. 

The two teams will rematch on Saturday before Chadron State returns home to face the University of Mary in CSC's home opener next Wednesday.
 

?Chadron State—Isaiah Randolph 19, Jovan Jovanovich 14, Mack Keighran10, Zach Smith 10, Jadon Cool 9, Luka Djurovic 5, Blessing Adesipe 4, Ethan Russell 3, Collin Nick 2. Totals: 22-47 FG (7-19 3PT) 25-29 FT. 76 points, 29 rebounds, 12 turnovers.

?West Texas A&M—Fontaine Williams, 21, Jailyn Sledge 17, Zach Brown 15, James Parlow 13, Kemper Jones 13, Brendan Ballard 10, Brock Mishak 4, Jaden Holt 3, Nicholas Jett 2. Totals: 36-67 FG (12-33 3PT) 14-20 FT. 98 points, 34 rebounds, 5 turnovers.

?Chadron State                37                39          ---76

?West Texas A&M?            45                 53         ---98

?3-pointers: CSC—Jovanovich 3, Keighran, Cool, Djurovic, Russell, all 1. WTAM—Williams 4, Jones 3, Brown 3, Sledge 2.

Eagles Fall in Four on Senior Night

CHADRON, Neb. – Chadron State volleyball won the first set before Colorado School of Mines responded, with the Orediggers handing the Eagles a Senior Night loss Friday in the Chicoine Center in the final match of CSC's 2025 season – 20-25, 25-19, 25-23, 25-14.

Freshman Shelby Harding finished with 13 kills to lead the Eagles and added 12 additional digs. Chloe Grady and Bella Adams – one of six seniors honored postmatch – finished with seven kills apiece. 

Grady had a standout game on the defensive end. The junior from Hawaii had two solo blocks and combined with teammates on eight others to become only the third RMAC player this season with 10 or more blocks in a single match and set the 2025 record for most blocks by a league player in a four-set match. 

Five Eagles had double-digit digs, with libero Avery Lacy leading the way with 22 for her second-best career high in a single match. Cydnie Eskew had 16 digs, Jillian Donovan had 13, Harding had 12 and Josie Loosvelt finished with 10.

The result concludes CSC's 2025 season at 5-21 with a 1-13 record in the RMAC. Colorado School of Mines, who entered the weekend as part of a group of teams separated by only two games for third through ninth place in the league standings, improved to 19-6 overall and 9-4 in the RMAC. 

Chadron State honored six seniors – Alejandra Briseno, Natali Keni, Shelbi Hazlitt, Bella Adams, Rylee Ward and Bo French – who all played their final match as Eagles. All except an injured Ward appeared in the third set of Saturday's match, with French appearing in her first match this season. 

The Eagles came out motivated for their final match of the season, taking control of the first set with a 5-0 run that featured two Adams kills and a Loosvelt ace to put CSC up 14-8. When Mines cut the lead to 21-20, the Eagles responded by winning four points in a row. Grady played a central role, putting away a kill to start the run then combining with first Harding, then Kally Kirkwood on back-to-back blocks to close out the set.

Grady's ball magnet skills extended to the second frame as the junior came up with a solo block and a combo block with Harding to give the Eagles an early 5-1 lead, but the Orediggers rallied at a crucial moment, winning the next six points to take a 7-5 lead, which they maintained the rest of the second set. 

In the pivotal third set, Mines had a narrow lead midway through and attempted to pull away, but couldn't shake the Eagles. The Orediggers led 11-8, 18-13 and 23-20 only for the Eagles to pull within one twice and then tie it at 23-23. Again, Grady had her fingerprints all over CSC's 3-0 run, coming up with a kill to make it 23-21 and then combining with Mataya Ward first and Kirkwood second for blocks to tie the score. 

Just as quickly as Chadron State rallied, however, Mines recovered. A CSC service error gave set point to the Orediggers, and Mines followed with an ace to go up two sets to one in the blink of an eye. That finish seemed to take the wind out of CSC's sails, as the Orediggers built a 10-1 fourth-set lead and the Eagles turned their focus to getting the team's seniors onto the court. 

Mines hit .196 for the match but were under .175 in three straight sets before hitting .368 in the fourth. Chadron State hit .244 in their victorious first set but struggled afterwards and only hit .117 across all four sets. 

Pins Help Eagle WWR Out-Dual Dickinson State

CHADRON, Neb. – Chadron State earned the maximum five points in all five of its victories to emerge with a 26-22 dual victory over Dickinson State, the No. 19-ranked NAIA program, in CSC's dual opener and home opener Thursday night at the Chicoine Center. 

After a forfeit win for Brianna Vollendroff at 103 pounds, the Eagles received pins from Rylee Balcazar (110 pounds), Adrianna Lopez (117), Desza Munson (145) and Maria Arellano to rack up 25 points. While Dickinson State won five of the dual's 10 matches, the Blue Hawks earned less than the maximum in two of their victories, giving CSC a winning margin.

It is the first career dual win in his first attempt as a head coach for Sammy de Seriere and gets CSC off to a positive start after the Eagles were only 1-6 in duals a year ago, including 1-5 at the Chicoine Center.

The Eagles jumped out to a 15-0 lead. After Vollendroff won uncontested, Balcazar (ranked No. 9 in the NCAA national rankings) avenged a loss to Dickinson's Jenna Gerhardt (NAIA No. 10) from last Saturday's Battle of the Rockies Open, pinning Gerhart at 5:03 in the match. Balcazar was in control, leading 7-0 at the time of the pin.

Adrianna Lopez backed up her impressive run through the consolation bracket last Saturday with her first dual win as an Eagle. Lopez and her opponent, Mikayla Jardine, also battled for most of the maximum allotted time before the redshirt freshman earned the fall at 5:34.

Dickinson State got back in it with pins at 124 and 131 pounds. Dickinson's Jumoke Adekoye, the defending NAIA national champion at 131, moved up to 138 for Thursday's dual and made quick work of CSC's Nevaeh Leonard via a 10-0 tech fall in just 1:56. However, the non-pin gave the Blue Hawks only four points and put them behind the eight-ball, trailing 15-14 after six matches. 

Chadron State clinched the dual with two quick pins at 145 and 160. Munson, a redshirt freshman from Commerce City, Colorado, pinned her 145-pound opponent in 1:48 while Arellano, a redshirt junior from Fresno, California, got a pin in just 1:22 at 160 pounds to give CSC an insurmountable 25-14 advantage despite a Dickinson State pin at 180. 

The heavyweight bout between CSC's Estrella Vasquez Gutierrez and Dickinson State's Isabella Urias was the only one of the night to go the distance. Urias led 6-0 after one period but couldn't land a finishing move as both wrestlers tired in the second period. 

Urias prevailed via an 8-1 decision to give Dickinson its fifth match win, but the decision scoring gave three points to the Blue Hawks plus one point to Chadron State to arrive at the final margin of 26-22. 

Chadron State will head to Colby, Kansas to take part in the Dust Bowls Open hosted by Colby Community College this Saturday. A total of 13 Chadron State wrestlers are projected to attend, but that squad will not include any of CSC's three ranked wrestlers (Balcazar, Piper Cadden and Esther Peters).

Full dual results:
103: Brianna Vollendroff (CSC) wins by forfeit
110: Rylee Balcazar (CSC) def. Jenna Gerhardt, Fall 5:06
117: Adrianna Lopez (CSC) def. Mikayla Jardine, Fall 5:34
124: Birta McCaskill (DSU) def. Ana Rojas-Zamora, Fall 3:50
131: Makenzie Shaw (DSU) def. Maddox Gehlhausen, Fall 0:36
138: Jumoke Adekoye (DSU) def. Neveah Leonard, TF 10-0 1:56
245: Desza Munson (CSC) def. Paisley Jaeger, Fall 1:48
160: Maria Arellano (CSC) def. Olivia Anderson, Fall 1:22
180: Bridgette Price (DSU) def. Cosette Desrosiers, Fall 1:47
207: Isabella Urias (DSU) def. Estrella Vasquez Gutierrez, Dec 8-1