RAPID CITY, S.D. – Alex Welsh matched his career-high with 28 points on the final point of the night as the University of Colorado Colorado Springs held off South Dakota School of Mines and Technology in a 70-67 win tonight at the King Center. Welsh recorded his second straight double-double and his seventh of the season with 11 rebounds for the Mountain Lions (10-9, 7-5 RMAC). 

The Mountain Lions used a 16-3 run to build a 24-11 lead with 8 minutes, 47 seconds left in the first half. The Hardrockers scored the last seven points, including a three-pointer at the halftime buzzer, to cut the UCCS lead down to 38-32 at intermission. Alex Welsh made seven of his nine shots for a team-high 15 points in the first half.

UCCS started the second half on a 9-0 run for a 47-32 lead, and built it to a 16-point advantage at 50-34 three minutes into the half. South Dakota Mines used 8-2 and 12-3 runs to cut the Mountain Lion lead down to 64-61 with 5:26 to play. 

The Hardrockers narrowed the lead again to two points at 69-67 on a three-pointer with 1:15 to play. The Mountain Lions missed the layup on their next possession, but forced a turnover in front of the South Dakota Mines bench with 40.3 seconds to play. The Hardrockers stole the ball from UCCS, but Tim Haas forced the turnover on what would have been the game-tying layup, and drew the flagrant foul against South Dakota Mines with 5.8 seconds to play.

Haas went 0-2 at the free throw, but on the inbounds play, the Hardrockers were forced to foul and did so against Welsh with 4.8 seconds. He made the first of two free throws to push UCCS to a 70-67 lead, and South Dakota Mines rebounded and called a timeout with 4.4 seconds to play. The Hardrockers brought the ball down and got a three-point shot on the right side up in time, but it bounced off the front of the rim as the buzzer sounded.

Welsh finished with 28 points for the third time in his career and made nine of his 11 rebounds on the defensive side. Haas scored 13 points in his second start of the season and Godley added 11 points with three assists. Ross made a season-high seven assists and led the Mountain Lions with two blocked shots. 

The Mountain Lions will travel 50 miles west on Interstate 90 for a 7:30 p.m., game on Saturday at Black Hills State. The Yellow Jackets (9-7, 7-5 RMAC) fell 67-64 to MSU Denver tonight.