Mountain Lions trampled by a Moose

After showing steady improvement over the first 10 games of the season, The University of Colorado at Colorado Springs men's basketball team took a big step backwards Saturday night in a 71-47 loss to the Regis Rangers at the Lions' Den.

Much of that big step backwards had to do with a very big body in the Regis lineup.

Austin Christensen, who bears a striking resemblance to Olympic wrestler Rulon Gardner, is listed at 6-foot-5, 285 pounds. Both numbers would be accurate only if he were wearing platform shoes and had a large helium balloon tied to his trousers. Regardless of what the scale might say, Christensen's true measurement came on the floor, where he was often dominant.

Called "Moose" by his teammates, Christensen scored 15 of his 17 points in the first half to help the Rangers roll to a 22-point halftime lead. He also grabbed a game-high 13 rebounds and added four assists with some deft passing out of the double team.

"(The Rangers) deserve a lot of credit," said CU-Colorado Springs coach Marty Fletcher. "They did a great job executing their offense."

A layup by CU-Colorado Springs' Jim Pecic tied the score at 11 just over five minutes into the game. Regis responded with a 14-1 run then, after CU-Colorado Springs shaved the lead to 10, the Rangers closed the half by outscoring the Mountain Lions 17-5 over the final six minutes. Regis shot 56.2 percent for the half.

The loss ended CU-Colorado Springs' two-game winning streak.

"We got outplayed in the first half," said Fletcher. "We were coming off of two victories and we forgot how we got those victories."

Jack Bain scored a game-high 18 points for CU-Colorado Springs (2-9, 1-3 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference) and also led the Mountain Lions with 10 rebounds. No other Mountain Lion scored more than nine points.

Jay Goral also scored 17 for Regis (8-5, 3-3). Zach Gelhaus and Chris Brever each added 10 points.

The Rangers led by as many as 29 in the second half, but CU-Colorado Springs managed to trim the deficit to 18 on a David Tomlin layup with 2:36 remaining. Regis scored the game's final six points after Fletcher emptied his bench.

"We came out and did a much better job in the second half and played the kind of basketball we have to play to put us in position to have a chance," said Fletcher.