Box Score
DENVER — St. Mary's
Marvin Binney sat at the podium, his face buried in his palms, and spoke genuinely to the media following the Rattlers' first-round exit from the NCAA Division II Tournament.
"Honestly," the junior said, staring on blankly, "I'm a sore loser."
It's why, at that moment, it was difficult to take much solace in all the good his Rattlers had accomplished this season.
The fifth-seeded Rattlers fell 90-67 to No. 4 seed Colorado Mines at the Auraria Event Center on Saturday, exiting in the first round a year after making their first-ever NCAA D-II Sweet 16 appearance.
Binney, the Heartland Conference Newcomer of the Year and a Second-Team All-Conference selection, led the Rattlers with 17 points. But that meant little on a night that St. Mary's (19-9) hoped to keep its season alive for at least one more day.
"Seventeen points, all the awards, it means nothing to me now that the season's over," Binney said. "No one's going to remember the 17 points, the Newcomer of the Year (award), or Second-Team All-Conference.
"They're going to remember that Colorado Mines beat St. Mary's."
Colorado Mines (25-4), ranked No. 13 in the nation, led by as many as 33 points in the game. The Orediggers advanced to face top-seeded Metro State (29-1) in Sunday's regional semifinals.
Binney led a sluggish St. Mary's attack in scoring, while senior
Fred Wilson chipped in 11 points and
Ryan Thomas added eight points and nine rebounds off the bench. Brett Green and Trevor Wages led a red-hot Colorado Mines with 22 and 20 points, respectively. Trevor Ritchie added 17 points while Gokul Natesan added 10 off the bench for the Orediggers.
Colorado Mines shot 58.3 percent (28 of 48) for the game, compared to the Rattlers' 38.1-percent (24 of 63) mark. The Orediggers also outrebounded the Rattlers 36-26.
"We always talk about rebounding and defending," St. Mary's head coach
Jim Zeleznak said. "In the first half, they shot 70 percent and we were outrebounded. When we don't do those things, we're not very good."
St. Mary's, making its third straight regional appearance, was unable to shake a poor start that saw it fall behind 41-19 at the half. The Rattlers shot 23.3 percent (7 of 30) in the opening stanza, including 0 for 5 from 3-point range. Making matters worse, St. Mary's couldn't stop the Orediggers' attack, as Colorado Mines shot 70 percent (14 of 20) and repeatedly forced its way to the foul line, going 11 for 12 at the stripe in the half.
It didn't get much better in the second half, as Trevor Wages threw down an alley-oop dunk nearly three minutes into the frame to give the Orediggers their first 30-point lead at 49-19.
St. Mary's did show signs of life in the second half, highlighted by a thunderous
Joe Monroe dunk with 13 minutes remaining. Monroe stole the in-bounds pass, slashed through the lane and slammed it down, part of a 6-0 run that cut the deficit to 56-30.
But the Rattlers would claw no closer than 19 points in the second half.
St. Mary's
Joe Monroe and
Isaiah Matthews each fouled out, finishing with eight and seven points, respectively.
