COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – The University of Colorado Colorado Springs men's basketball team will mark the halfway point of the RMAC schedule at home on Friday against Colorado Mines and on Saturday against Colorado Christian at the Gallogly Events Center. Both games will start at 7:30 p.m.
The Mountain Lions are in a six-way tie for fifth in the RMAC standings at 5-4 and tied with Colorado Mines among other teams. Colorado Christian is two games behind the Orediggers and Mountain Lions at 3-6, but the Cougars are scoring 86.3 points per game on the road compared to 75.2 at home in the conference season.
Alex Welsh enters Friday's game in a tie for second in UCCS career rebound records with 731. He is tied with Mike Jackson's mark set in the late 1980s and early 1990s, and is 69 away from the record of 800 set by Jack Bain from 2001-04. Welsh is 324 points away from tying the UCCS career scoring record and is fifth with 194 career assists. He needs 36 to move into a tie for fifth with Ben Feilmeier.
Dalton Patten is starting to move closer to a spot in the top 10 list for career scoring with 831 points. He is 55 points away from No. 10 (Rodney Rainer) and is on pace to break 1,000 points at his current scoring average this season. He's 18 rebounds away from the top 10 in UCCS records with 350.
UCCS and Colorado Mines split their meetings last season, with the Orediggers winning 82-73 in Golden on Jan. 16, and the Mountain Lions winning 90-87 in the first round of the NCAA Division II National Tournament on March 14. Colorado Mines hasn't lost in the Gallogly Events Center since it opened in 2010. Gokul Natesan is third in the RMAC and leads the Orediggers with 22.0 points per game, but is the only student-athlete for Mines averaging more than 10 points per game. Caleb Waitsman, the current RMAC Defensive Player of the Week, leads Mines with 6.3 rebounds per game.
Friday's game will be broadcast regionally on Comcast Entertainment Television. Brian Roth and Marty Cesario will provide the commentary for xfinity subscribers on channel 900 on the Front Range.
The Cougars are 3-1 in 2016 with wins against the two teams leading the RMAC, New Mexico Highlands and Fort Lewis. Colorado Christian has the second-best scoring offense in the conference with 81.9 points per game and averages 10.1 three-pointers per game. Zach McLemore leads a balanced offensive attack with 16.6 points per game and 3.3 assists per game. He is making almost 40 percent of his three-pointers this season. Ty McGee is third in the RMAC with 8.4 rebounds per game and is second on the team with 3.2 assists per game.
Fans unable to attend in person can watch or listen to the game for free through GoMountainLions.com. SoCo basketball and YMCA youth basketball families can also enjoy free admission for all games this weekend.
