COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – University of Colorado Colorado Springs sophomore guard Brandon Malone led a balanced scoring effort as the Mountain Lions (3-4, 2-0 RMAC) overcame an eight-point halftime deficit to claim a 66-64 win against South Dakota Mines at the Gallogly Events Center. He finished with 12 points as UCCS had seven student-athletes finish with seven or more points in tonight's win against the Hardrockers (4-4, 0-2 RMAC).

South Dakota Mines scored the first nine points of the game and led by 15 points with 1 minute, 24 seconds, left in the first half before the Mountain Lions closed out the half on a seven-point run. Malone took the team into halftime with a three-pointer in the final seconds of the period as he scored all of his points in the first half off of four three-point field goals.

Both teams started the second half strong and were shooting better than 50 percent through the first six minutes of the half. UCCS scored on its first five possessions of the half, with a pair of three-pointers from Padiet Wang, and cut the Hardrocker lead down to four points at 52-48 with 14:42 to play. The Mountain Lions took their first lead of the game at 58-56 with a tip-in from Ed Bourke with 8:38 to play, which sparked a 10-2 run to build a 66-58 advantage with 5:45 to play.

Both teams suffered a scoring drought in the final five minutes of the game, with the Mountain Lions going scoreless in the final stretch. The UCCS defense limited South Dakota Mines to only two field goals and two free throws in the final five minutes to hold off the Hardrockers and improve to 2-0 in the conference with a two-point victory.

Wang scored nine points, all in the second-half points, and Blend Avdili did the same with his eight points, as UCCS outscored the Hardrockers 34-24 in the second half. Bourke led the team with seven rebounds and added eight points and Geoff Kelly scored another eight points.

After a 3-0 start to the home season, the Mountain Lions will be back on the road next week for a 7:30 p.m., game on Friday at Chadron State. The Eagles (0-6, 0-2 RMAC) lost 86-69 tonight at Colorado Christian.