COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – No. 5 University of Colorado Colorado Springs men's basketball overcame a 13-point deficit in the first half and shot nearly 60 percent from the field in the second half to record the first win in program history against No. 7 MSU Denver with a 69-66 victory tonight in the Gallogly Events Center. The Mountain Lions improved to 9-0 for the first time in program history off a game-high 32 points from
Derrick White.
The Mountain Lions gave up a nine-point Roadrunner rally early in the first half to go down 15-7 with 10:58 to play in the first half, but UCCS used back-to-back three-pointers and then a jumper from White to tie the game at 17-17 with 8:34 left in the period. The Roadrunners put together a 13-3 to gain a 30-20 advantage and led 35-24 at halftime.
UCCS went down by 12 points at 45-33 and assembled a 10-point run, helped by back-to-back dunks from
Dalton Patten, to pull within a possession of the Roadrunners at 45-43 with 12 minutes to play. White put the Mountain Lions ahead at 51-50 with a three-pointer and then a layup off the backboard on the next possession at the 7:23 mark.
MSU Denver built at four-point lead at 60-56 with four minutes to play and kept the lead at 63-59 with 2:28 to go.
Tim Billingsley cut it down to 63-61 and UCCS regained the lead at 64-61 with a three-pointer with 90 seconds to play. After struggling at the free throw line for most of the night, the Mountain Lions made five of their final six to maintain the lead for the 69-66 victory.
White's 32-point performance was his third 30-point game of the season and he went 10-of-17 from the field for his seventh straight game with 50 percent or better from the field. He finished with a double-double for the second straight game with 11 rebounds. White also made four blocked shots on defense.
Alex Welsh recorded his third double-double of the season with 12 points and 11 rebounds, and Billingsley rounded out the top scorers with 10 points.
UCCS will conclude a five-game home stretch on Saturday at 7:30 p.m., against Regis. The Rangers (2-4 / 0-2 RMAC) fell to Colorado State-Pueblo 53-89 tonight. A win tomorrow would match the longest win streak in program history and be the 100th career victory for UCCS Head Coach
Jeff Culver.
