COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – University of Colorado Colorado Colorado Springs sophomore Blend Avdili matched his career-high with 21 points and led the Mountain Lions (8-11, 7-7 RMAC) to their third straight home win in the series against MSU Denver in an 92-82 victory against the Roadrunners (12-8, 8-6 RMAC) tonight in the Gallogly Events Center. 

UCCS jumped out to an 11-2 lead and held the Roadrunners to only free throws for the first six minutes of the game. MSU Denver pulled back within five points at 20-15 with 7:25 left in the first half before the Mountain Lions reopened a double-digit lead on an 8-2 rally. The Roadrunners scored the final six points of the half to cut the UCCS lead down to 44-36 at halftime.

MSU Denver continued the momentum with a 13-3 run to start the second half and took a 49-47 lead with 16:19 to play. The Roadrunners and Mountain Lions exchanged the lead seven times until MSU Denver scored seven straight points and took a 66-60 advantage with 9:01 on the clock. A layup from Ryan VanPelt a minute later sparked a 14-3 run for the Mountain Lions and a 74-69 lead with five minutes to play. The Roadrunners pulled to as close as three points, but started to foul to stop the clock with 1:16 to play, but UCCS made eight of its 10 free throws down the stretch to earn the 10-point win.

TreShawn Wilford scored 18 points and led UCCS with nine rebounds and five assists. Justin Smith scored 12 points with eight rebounds, and Elijah Ross rounded out the offensive leads with 11 points. In the meeting of the top two rebounding teams in the conference tonight, UCCS finished with a 44-31 advantage against MSU Denver.

The Mountain Lions will remain at home on Friday for a 7:30 p.m., game against Westminster. The Griffins (9-6, 9-4 RMAC) are on a four-game winning streak.