Kearney, Neb. – Five players reached double digits and ninth-ranked Colorado School of Mines shot 53 percent from the field to beat Nebraska-Kearney, 86-79, Saturday night at the Health & Sports Center.

An Elite Eight team last season, the Orediggers improve to 4-0. They rallied past Fort Hays State Friday night in double overtime, 109-101.

UNK (2-3) won 31 of the first 40 meetings with Mines but the 'Diggers have been a big pest of late, taking the last seven games. CSM won number seven tonight thanks to 32 bench points and 63 percent shooting (20 of 32) in the first half.

The 'Diggers led for 34 minutes and got a staggering 27 bench points in the first half to lead 51-41 at the break. Redshirt freshman guard Mason Baker (14) and 6-8, 240 pound senior center Adam Laine (13) combined to go 9 of 9 from the field and 7 of 8 at the line to tally those big bench points.

UNK was almost equal to the task as it made half its field goals (14 of 28) and three pointers (5 of 10) over the first 20 minutes. Also going 8 of 10 at the line, the Lopers saw Chicago senior guard Yashua Trent makeup a layup with 10 seconds left in the half to make it 48-41. However, Baker was fouled on a three with a second left and made the subsequent free throws.

That momentum shift carried over as the 'Diggers led 61-44 by the 17:44 mark of the second half. UNK whittled the deficit to four points on three separate occasions, the last coming with 1:59 left. However, starter Michael Glen hit his only three of the night and that pushed the Mines lead back to seven, 78-71, soon after.

Baker and Glen, a 6-7 freshman, paced a balanced Mines attack as each tallied 18 with Laine finishing with 14. Glen also grabbed 10 rebounds with 6-8 junior center Ben Clare (nine points and six points) close to a double double as well.

Senior guard Lane Rohrich (Pierce) scored a career-high 28 points to pace the Lopers. He was 9 of 13 (2 of 3 threes) from the floor and 8 of 9 at the line. He scored 14 in each half and also had no turnovers in 34 minutes. His previous high of 24 points was set in January 2016 vs. Missouri Southern.

Seniors Trey Lansman (18) and Ty Danielson (15) were the other Lopers in double figures with Kansas sophomore forward Morgan Soucie leading the bench with four points, four boards and three assists. Finally, Trent had eight points, five assists and five steals. 

Historically, Danielson (1,004) is now the 43rd Loper to reach 1,000 career points. He has a career scoring average of 10.7 and has sunk 152 threes and made 284 free throws. 

UNK has three games next week, beginning with a Wednesday night affair at Southern Nazarene University (3-0) in Bethany, Okla.