COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – University of Colorado Colorado Springs senior Alex Welsh scored 26 points for his ninth 20-point game in the last 10 games as the Mountain Lions (16-11, 13-7 RMAC) lost a 91-80 game to Black Hills State (12-12, 10-10 RMAC) at the Gallogly Events Center. Tim Haas added a career-high 18 points with a six-of-six performance from the field and went three-of-four at the free throw line.

The Yellow Jackets made their first four shots from the field to open a 10-3 lead against the Mountain Lions in the first two-and-a-half minutes of the game. UCCS used an 8-0 run to pull within a point at 16-15 with 14:51 left in the first half, and a layup from Shane Jensen tied the game at 23-23 with 11:11 to play in the half. Black Hills State shot 61 percent from the field and 56 percent at the three-point line in the first half to lead 50-43 at halftime. Welsh shot seven-of-nine from the field and led UCCS with 16 points and five rebounds in the half.

Black Hills State opened the second half on a 10-2 run to take a 60-45 lead with 17:03 to play. The Mountain Lions scored the final eight points of the game to cut a 19-point deficit down to 11 in a 91-80 loss to the Yellow Jackets.

Welsh finished 12-of-17 from the field with a pair of three-pointers for his 26-point performance tonight. He needs 51 points to tie, and 52 to break, the UCCS career scoring record of 1,912. Haas made three 3-pointers as a part of his perfect field goal shooting and led the Mountain Lion bench in scoring. Godley scored 11 points with three assists and Dalton Patten finished with 10 points and a team-high eight rebounds. Patten needs seven points to become the 10th Mountain Lion in program history with 1,000 career points.

UCCS shot better than 50 percent from the field for the third straight game and finished with 52.5 percent tonight. The Mountain Lions out-rebounded the Yellow Jackets 37-27 for the first double-digit rebounding advantage since Jan. 29 against Western New Mexico. It was the eighth straight game for UCCS with a rebounding advantage.

The Mountain Lions will remain at home for a Saturday game against South Dakota Mines at 7:30 p.m. The Hardrockers (8-16, 6-14 RMAC) fell to MSU Denver 86-70 earlier tonight.