Good first half not enough as Fort Lewis beats Mountain Lions
DURANGO - Nick Weaver's 22 points weren't enough to prevent the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs from coming up on the short end of a 94-75 decision to the Fort Lewis Skyhawks Friday evening at Whalen Gymnasium.
Frank McCollum added 13 points for the Mountain Lions (2-10, 2-2 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference).
Kirk Archibeque led Fort Lewis (13-3, 4-1 RMAC) with 21 points and 16 rebounds. Ryan Jameson added 18 points and Jordan Brooks had 15. Both Jameson and Brooks had six assists.
The Mountain Lions led by as many as 14 in the first half after a Weaver 3-pointer gave them a 35-21 lead. Fort Lewis came back to close the half with a 12-6 run end the period down 41-33.
"I think this was the first time that we had a great defensive half and a good offensive half," said UCCS coach Russ Caton. "Of course, the combination of those two things makes for good basketball. Leave one of those out and we begin to struggle."
Those basic elements were sporadic in the second half and UCCS did indeed struggle.
The Mountain Lions were up 46-36 when Jordan Brooks scored eight points during a 14-1 run that gave the Skyhawks their first lead since early in the first half.
Leading 57-53 with 13:47 remaining, Fort Lewis put together a 16-3 run over the next four minutes that blew the game open.
The Mountain Lions, who had outrebounded four of their past five opponents, were beaten 54-39 on the boards.
Still, coming off a disastrous effort at Colorado State-Pueblo on Jan. 3, Friday's loss was a silver lining.
"It was good for our guys to see what good basketball fells like again because we didn't have much of that going on in Pueblo," said Caton. "I was really, really happy with our effort and the way we responded. That was a very good sign."
UCCS Players/Staff Featured | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | Frank McCollum | 42 | G | |
 | Frank McCollum | 42 | G | |
 | Nick Weaver | 33 | G | |
| Additional News Stories | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| January 24, 2013 |  | Late rally falls short as UCCS falls to Regis | DENVER - Mama said there'd be days like this. |
| March 9, 2009 |  | McCollum, Smith honored by RMAC | Frank McCollum and Cole Smith of the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs were named to the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference men’s basketball second- and third-teams, respectively, the conference announced Wednesday. |
| March 3, 2009 |  | Mountain Lions fall to Metro State in first round of RMAC playoffs | History will have to wait - again. |
| March 2, 2009 |  | UCCS headed to postseason play for only third time in school history | In just three seasons as the men's basketball coach at the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs, Russ Caton has accomplished something that none of his predecessors managed - he qualified for the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference playoffs twice. |
| February 28, 2009 |  | UCCS makes RMAC playoffs despite loss to Metro in regular season finale | There was a classic case of bad news / good news for the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs Saturday evening. |
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