The Central Region final for the NCAA Division II Tournament is all set with intra-state rivals, the Colorado School of Mines Orediggers (29-2) and the Metro State Roadrunners (24-6), ready to tip off on Tuesday night at Lockridge Arena in Golden, CO, the Orediggers' home court.
Colorado School of Mines is the host of the Central Region and took the No. 1 seed while Metro State gained the No. 2 seed in this portion of the bracket. After picking up opening round wins on Saturday, both schools were on the court again on Sunday night for the Round of 32.
The Roadrunners played first and defeated No. 6 St. Cloud State, 76-64, for a spot in the Sweet 16. However, they needed to overcome a 12-point deficit to pull off that victory. Demetrius Miller poured in 24 points, including nine from beyond the arc, while Jonathan Morse put in a double-double of 19 points and 12 rebounds. The team made 25-of-33 free throws while St. Cloud State went to the line just 11 times and made six of them. The Huskies had just one scorer in double digits (Theo Rothstein with 15) while Metro State had four.
Mines didn't have quite the trouble Metro State did, pulling out an 80-60 victory in the late game of the day. Dale Minschwaner led the way with his double-double of 17 points and 11 rebounds while Brett Green had the team lead in points with 18. Green scored half of his points on three-pointers. Overall, the team hit nine of its 18 treys, including three from Brian Miller off the bench. Trevor Wages fell a rebound short of a double-double, scoring 13 points and pulling down nine rebounds.
These two teams will play on Tuesday at 7:00 p.m. for a spot in the Elite Eight.
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