CHADRON, Neb. — After squeezing out a pair of one-point victories in their first two home games this season, the Chadron State College men's basketball team was involved in another nail-biter in its third contest in the Chicoine Center on Sunday afternoon, but the Eagles couldn't quite pull this one out and lost to Colorado Christian 61-57.

?The result means the Eagles will open their Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference schedule with a 2-5 record when they visit Black Hills State on Thursday, December 4. CSC will play at home two days later against South Dakota Mines.

?Chadron State got off to an extremely slow start Sunday, making just two of its first 13 field goal attempts while falling behind 14-6. The Eagles were still trailing 20-9 with 11 minutes gone off the clock. 

?All nine of the Eagles' points had been scored by junior guard Jadon Cool, who finished with a game-high 22 points.  As things turned out, just five CSC players scored with freshman forward Luka Djurovic getting 10, Isaiah Randolph nine and Blessing Adesipe and Mack Keighran eight apiece.

?After their long scoring drought, the Eagles finally got rolling offensively. They outscored the Cougars 14-4 during a four-and-a-half minute stretch to cut the visitors' lead to a single point at 24-23 with four minutes left in the opening half.  

?During the surge, both Djurovic and Randolph nailed a 3-pointer and made a layup while Keighran sank a pair of free throws and also drove for a layup.

?After Chadron State nearly caught up, the teams traded baskets before the Cougars took a 31-27 lead to the dressing room at halftime.

The Eagles came out of the locker room hot, a rally which spurred them to their  first lead at 32-31. Cool hit his first two shots—a trey and a jumper—to open the second half. Keighran then stole the ball and drove for a layup, putting Chadron State on top 34-31.  

Soon afterwards, however, Colorado Christian sank three of their five three-pointers on the day and went on to take a 51-40 advantage in the middle of the half. ?But even with the double digit deficit, the Eagles didn't quit scrapping and cut the difference to two points—55-53—when Adesipe drove to the basket and earned a hard-driving layup with backspin off the glass and rim as he was landing on the floor with 1:21 left to play. The 6-foot-6 grad student from Houston was awarded a free throw on the play, but missed that shot.

?After each team then turned the ball over, the game was a free throw shooting contest the rest of the way. 

?The Eagles initially stopped the clock by fouling Zachery Reed with 21 seconds left and he made both shots for the visitors. When Cool drove the basket a few seconds later, he was fouled and sank both shots. CSC then fouled Christian's Pierce Bazil as soon as he touched ensuing in-bounds pass and he canned those charity shots. A few ticks later, Adesipe was on a fast break to the basket when he was clobbered and hit both shots. 

?As soon as Pierce Bazil caught the final pass from out of bounds, he was sent to the free throw line and made both shots again to clinch his team's four-point verdict, which improved the Cougars' record to 3-3. 

?Bazil, a 6-2 senior, was Christian's top scorer with 20 points. His brother, Porter, a 6-7 junior, was their team's only other double-figure scorer with 13 points and led the visitors with six assists and seven rebounds. Both were standout hoops players at Lincoln Northeast High School and played basketball at Houston Christian University before joining Colorado Christian this season.

?Each team made five 3-pointers and eight free throws. The scoring difference was because Colorado Christian finished with 24 total field goals, two more than the Eagles. The visitors out-rebounded CSC 33-25, but turned the ball over 17 times, compared to the hosts' 10. ?Both Cool and Randolph were credited with four steals.  

?Colorado Christian—Pierce Bazil 20, Porter Bazil 13, Schafer Reichart 7, Joshua Reid 6. Andrew Reichart 6, Zachery Reid 4, Jared Reed Jr. 3, Bobby McWard 2. Totals: 24-46 FG (5-15 3 PT) 8-9 FT 61 points, 33 rebounds, 12 assists, 17 turnovers.

?Chadron State –Jadon Cool 22, Luka Djurovic 10, Isaiah Randolph 9, Mack Keighran 8, Blessing Adesipe 8. Totals: 22-56 FG (5-24 3PT) 8-10 FT 57 points, 25 rebounds, 11 assists, 10 turnovers.