Fernandez, Smith help UCCS even RMAC record with win over Western State

GUNNISON, Colo. â€" Chris Fernandez had is second double-double of the season and Cole Smith scored 19 points to lead the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs to a 72-64 victory over the Western State Mountaineers Friday evening at Paul Wright Gym.

The Mountain Lions evened their Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference to 3-3 (5-9 overall) and have won three of their past four games.

Fernandez had 11 points and a career-high 16 rebounds in the win. The junior has 36 points, 37 rebounds and eight assists over the past three games since returning from an injury.

Smith added nine rebounds to his points total before fouling out, having played just 22 minutes. Teammates Scott Sublousky and Alex Snyder added 11 and 10 points respectively while Ben Feilmeier had four assists.

Weylan Towns led Western State (3-11, 0-7 RMAC) with 15 points. Lachlan Kirwan added 13 points and Dan Hobin had 11.

Western State opened quickly, making its first four shots on its way to grabbing an 11-2 lead. But six points by Smith helped the Mountain Lions battle back to tie it at 12. Neither team would gain enough initiative to build any significant lead the rest of the period as the Mountaineers went into the intermission leading 33-30.

The score was tied six times over the first nine minutes of the second half when a jumper by Fernandez and a 3-pointer by Sublousky gave UCCS a 51-46 lead with 9:32 remaining. It was a lead the Mountain Lions wouldnâ€^TMt relinquish.

Western State closed to within two twice, the second with 7:33 left, but UCCS answered both times, building its lead to as many as 10.

Having denied Western State its first RMAC win of the season on Friday, the Mountain Lions will attempt to hand Mesa State its first RMAC loss when they play the 6-0 (12-1 overall) Mavericks Saturday in Grand Junction.