ALAMOSA, Colo. – In a game that featured nine lead changes and the scored tied nine times, the University of Colorado Colorado Springs men's basketball team came out with a win, earning an 83-80 victory at Adams State University Saturday night in Alamosa, Colo.
 
Elijah Ross made program history to become the all-time assists leader at UCCS.  Ross found Blend Avdili with 6:26 left in regulation to surpass Derrick White's career mark of 343 assists.
 
Tonight's win marked the eighth straight win for the Mountain Lions who improve to 10-5 on the season and 7-2 in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference.
 
Both teams entered halftime tied at 44-44.  UCCS shot 44.4 percent in the first half, sinking 12-of-27 field goals, and 6-of-13 from three-point range.  Eighteen of the Mountain Lions 23 free throws were attempted in the first half; UCCS netted 14-of-18 from the charity stripe before halftime.
 
The Mountain Lions largest lead of the game was recorded with 14:21 left in the game after DaRaun Clark stole the ball and finished with a jumper to give UCCS a 61-55 lead.
 
The Grizzlies scored seven of the next 10 points in the game and tied the contest at 62 after Davere Creighton made a three-pointer.  Creighton would make another three-pointer at 10:03 to give ASU a 65-64 lead, but Brandon Malone's trey at 9:16 gave UCCS the lead they would not relinquish.
 
Leading by five points with 1:56 remaining, both teams possessed the ball three times over the next one minute and 49 seconds without scoring a point.  During that span, the Mountain Lions made the Grizzlies miss four field goal attempts and forced them to foul three times.
 
Shemar Johnson of ASU broke the pointless streak with seven seconds remaining after he made two free throws to cut the Mountain Lions lead down to one point, 81-80.  ASU was forced to foul UCCS, sending Ross to the charity stripe where he made both shots with six ticks left to seal the win, 83-80.
 
Ross came off the bench to lead UCCS with 19 points, four rebounds and two assists.  All three of his three-pointers came in the second half.
 
Malone was a catalyst for the Mountain Lions in the second half as he scored all 10 of points in the final 20 minutes.  Malone made all four of his field goal attempts in the second half, two of which came from long range.
 
Nine of Avdili's 17 points were from behind the arc (3-of-4), and he added a game high four assists.
 
Padiet Wang led the defense with seven rebounds (all defensive), two blocked shots and two steals, and he netted 12 points. 
 
Dalton Walker came off the bench to score nine points.  Both of his field goals were three pointers and he made 3-of-4 free throws.
 
UCCS shot 47.4 percent from the floor (27-of-57), 52.2 percent from long range (12-of-23) and 73.9 percent from the free throw line (17-of-23).
 
The Mountain Lions were outrebounded by the Grizzlies by 22 boards, 52-30, but UCCS forced 16 Grizzlies turnovers that led to 24 points.
 
ASU's John Dewey led all scorers with 20 points.
 
UCCS will play host to Black Hills State University on Jan. 18, and South Dakota School of Mines on Jan. 19. Both games are scheduled to tip-off at 7:30 p.m.