CHADRON, Neb. – In a season that has featured some negative moments at the buzzer, Jalen Thomas made up for them all with one shot. And in a season where Chadron State was picked 15th in the RMAC, the Eagles are going to the RMAC Tournament. 

Thomas buried a contested mid-range jumper with 0.7 seconds remaining to lift Chadron State to an 84-82 victory over Fort Lewis at the Chicoine Center. The win clinched an RMAC Tournament berth for the Eagles (14-13, 10-9 RMAC), who have now qualified for the RMAC tourney for the third consecutive season. 

While CSC is for sure in the tournament, their seed is not yet finalized. The Eagles are still in eighth place in the RMAC standings and will need a win on Saturday plus some losses from other schools to move up in the seed order. 

On Thursday, Chadron State overcame a five-point halftime deficit and scored the final five points of the game, with Zy Wright hitting a game-tying three-pointer with 58 seconds remaining to knot up the score at 82-82 before Thomas's game-winning basket. 

Wright scored 28 points, his second-highest point total of the season, to lead the Chadron scoring effort. Thomas finished with 19 points while Julio Phipps (12) and Darrius Miles (10) joined CSC's guard duo in double figures. 

Chadron State dominated the rebounding battle, grabbing 48 boards to the Skyhawks' 35. Phipps grabbed 10 rebounds to finish with his third double-double of the year and second in CSC's last three games, while John Jenkins had a team-high 11 rebounds to go with eight points.

The Eagles also blocked eight shots as a team, which doubles CSC's highest single-game total this season and is the third-highest single-game total in the RMAC this year. Miles led the way with a game-high three while Phipps and Jenkins swatted two apiece and Trey Ballard had one.

Chadron State shot 43.5 percent from the field. They were only 22.2 percent (6-27) from three-point range but got to the line and sunk 85.7 percent of those attempts (18-21), with Zy Wright going 10-for-11 from the stripe on his own. 

The game featured five ties and 12 lead changes and was played at a frenetic pace thanks to Fort Lewis's high-pressing, up-tempo style. When Chadron State was able to beat the press, they got easy looks inside, outscoring Fort Lewis 42-30 on points in the paint. 

Fort Lewis shot well early, sinking 47 percent from the field and 45 percent (9-20) from deep in the first half, but cooled to shoot 31.4 percent from the field and just 2 of 10 from distance after halftime. 

The Eagles trailed by eight with 9:12 to play at 67-59, but Julio Phipps sunk a three-pointer and Trey Ballard hit a jumper to cut it to a one-basket lead. After two FLC free-throws, Thomas sunk his second three-pointer of the night (his first two makes from beyond the arc since January 18) to make it 69-67.

Down 73-70, the Eagles took the lead with a 6-0 run on a John Jenkins dunk, Zy Wright jumper and Thomas fastbreak layup. The lead would seesaw back to the Skyhawks, who were up 82-79 before losing Wright on defense for a wide-open three that tied the score with a minute to go.

Fort Lewis missed three straight field goals on one possession, getting two offensive boards before Zy Wright wrangled a rebound and got it to Thomas for the game's final play. The Chadron guard nearly lost the ball but kept his dribble and launched an arcing, pull-up jumper from midrange on the right side that swished through and sent the Chicoine Center into a frenzy. 

There were still 0.7 seconds on the clock, but Wright intercepted Fort Lewis's desperation full-court pass attempt to seal the win. 

The Eagles will now face Adams State on Senior Day at 3 p.m., with Senior Day ceremonies prior to the game. 

Chadron State— Zy Wright 28, Jalen Thomas 19, Julio Phipps 12, Darrius Miles 10, Trey Ballard 8, John Jenkins 7. Totals: 30-69 FG, 6-27 3PT, 18-21 FT. 84 points, 48 rebounds, 11 assists, 15 turnovers.

Fort Lewis— Chuol Deng 19, Tru Allen 13, Stewart Erhart 9, Biko Johnson 8, Cassius Carmichael 8, AJ Riggs 8, Keither Florence 7, Malachi Coleman 7, Tristan Moore 3. Totals: 28-71 FG, 11-30 3PT, 15-18 FT. 82 points, 35 rebounds, 20 assists, 10 turnovers.

Powers Scores Career High In Win Over FLC

CHADRON, Neb. – A huge second half and a career scoring night from Ashayla Powers propelled the Chadron State College women's basketball team to an 83-72 victory over the Fort Lewis Skyhawks on Thursday night in the Chicoine Center.

The Eagles (6-19, 5-14 RMAC) overcame a 10-point halftime deficit by outscoring the Skyhawks 50-29 in the second half, scoring 25 points in each quarter. 

The star of the show was Chadron State's 5-10 senior Powers, who poured in a career-high 32 points, 22 of them in the second half, and also was the game's leading rebounder with 12.  She made 13 of 19 field goal shots and was 6-of-8 at the free throw line.

Megan Counts also had a double-double for the second straight game with 12 points and 11 rebounds. In addition, CSC had a season-high 20 assists, nine of them passes to Powers that she converted into points.

For the game, Coach Travis Brewster's team was 29 of 62 (46.8%) from the field and outrebounded the Skyhawks 45-32. Fort Lewis was 25 of 66 (37.9%) on its field goal attempts. Both teams sank seven 3-pointers, but the visitors took 27 shots from behind the arc and the Eagles 16.

Three players scored nearly 80 percent of the Skyhawks points. Deniece Ryan, a 5-2 junior, scored 21 points and Darla Hernandez and Levia Knapp, both seniors, had 18 apiece. Fort Lewis jumped out to a 23-16 first quarter lead by making 9 of 22 shots from the field, including four 3-pointers. The visitors stayed ahead the entire second period and increased the lead to double-digits as the half was ending when Ryan nailed back-to-back 3-pointers, the last one at the buzzer.

But Chadron State outscored the Skyhawks 25-10 in the third quarter to turn the 10-point halftime deficit into a five-point advantage at 58-53.  Powers scored 11 points in the frame and junior Kylie Krise sank a pair of 3-pointers to lead the rally. CSC also tallied 25 points in the fourth quarter while going 13-of-16 from the free throw line, including makes on all six shots in the final 22 seconds. Overall, the Eagles were 18 of 22 at the charity stripe.

Powers' previous career high point total was 29 points against Nebraska-Kearney in November 2022. She has now scored 1,467 points during her career, fifth on the Eagles' scoring list. Powers can crack the program's top three if she can score 27 points on Saturday in her final collegiate game. The Eagles will conclude their season Saturday at 1 p.m. by hosting Adams State.  

Fort Lewis—Deniece Ryan 21, Darla Hernandez 18, Livia Knapp 18, Katie Lamb 5, Natalie Guanella 4, Eva Knighton 4, Sarah Chick 2. Totals: 25-66 FG (7-27 3PT) 15-23 FT. 72 points, 32 rebounds, 10 assists, 10 turnovers.
Chadron State—Ashayla Powers 32, Megan Counts 12, Kylie Krise 9, Kyra Tanabe 8, Jordyn Stokes 6, Camren Morris 5, Malorie Byrne 5, McKenzi Petersen 4, Bati Assefa 2. Totals: 29-62 FG (7-16 3PT) 18-22 FT. 83 points, 45 rebounds, 13 turnovers, 20 assists. 

Jennings On Podium On Day One of RMACs

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – Christopher Jennings earned a podium finish in the weight throw while three CSC sprinters earned spots in the finals to lead Chadron State on night one in the RMAC Indoor Championships in Colorado Springs. 

Jennings placed third in the weight throw with a mark of 62 feet, 1 ¼ inches. Jennings's mark is about a foot and a half shy of his season-best but still exceeded the provisional qualifying standard of 59-8.5. 

UCCS's Luke Hard won the event with a throw of 65-3.75, breaking the old RMAC Indoor meet record that previously belonged to CSC alum Daniel Reynolds (64-11.5, 2022). Colorado School of Mines's Holden Murphy was second at 64-8.25. 

Jennings's third-place finish earned Chadron State six team points. The Eagles got two additional points in the same event thanks to a seventh-place finish from Parker Gonser, who threw 59-4 to fall just a few inches shy of the national qualifying standard. With eight total team points, Chadron State is tied for fifth place in the men's team standings. 

Friday's action also saw the preliminaries for the sprinting events before Saturday's finals. Esosa Iyengunmwena finished sixth in the 60-meter dash prelims with a time of 6.85, three hundredths of a second faster than his season best. 

Ryan Clapper, who entered the meet with the conference's second-fastest time in the 200, got through to the finals in fourth place by running 22.12. Creighton Trembly, who entered with the third-fastest time in the 60 hurdles, also ran third-fastest in the prelims with a time of 8.17, just one one-hundredth of a second off his season best. 

While Iyengunmwena, Clapper and Trembly will all run in the finals, several Eagles just missed out on top-eight places and qualifying for the finals. Tommy Thomas placed ninth in the 200 and 10th in the 60 meters. Nicquaine Henry placed 10th in the 400 while Eva Nitschke placed 11th  in the women's 60 hurdles as both Henry and Nitschke began a program of competing in four events apiece at this year's championships. 

Jumper Chayton Bynes did not compete in the long jump Friday. Bynes is still slated to compete in the triple jump, an event where he currently holds the second-farthest mark in Division II, during Saturday's meet.