SPEARFISH, S.D. – University of Colorado Colorado Springs men's basketball suffered their first double-digit loss of the season Sunday night as Black Hills State University edged out the Mountain Lions, 92-77.
 
INSIDE THE MATCHUP: 
Final: UCCS 77,BHSU 92
Records: UCCS (8-3, 3-2 RMAC), BHSU (8-3, 6-0 RMAC)
Location: Chicoine Center | Chadron, Neb.
Series: UCCS trails the all-time series against BHSU 10-11 as the Yellow Jackets have won the last three games.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED:
• It took 90 second before the first basket of the game was made as the Yellow Jackets recorded consecutive jumpers to post the early 4-0 lead. The Mountain Lions and Jon'il Fugett put their first points on the board from the charity stripe to make it 4-2 as UCCS registered their smallest deficit of the half.
• The Mountain Lions shot north of 50 percent (51.9 percent) in the first 20 minutes as Parker Gaddis and Wyatt Dolberry came off the bench to put up 10 points each to keep pace with Black Hills State. BHSU managed to pull ahead towards a double-digit lead six times during the half including a 13-point lead at the 3:38 mark.
• Dolberry would bring the Yellow Jackets down from their largest lead of the half by scoring the next eight points with two made three-pointers to cut the deficit down to seven points and bring the score to 44-37 with 2:02 left. Alijah Comithier then hit a jumper in the paint with under a minute left to keep the game close as BHSU took a 46-41 lead into halftime.
• UCCS and BHSU continued to trade baskets into the second half as the Mountain Lions brought it to a two-point game at the 11:45 mark with Gaddis making his only three-pointer to make it 60-58. BHSU's Tommy Donavan notched their next points by way of a dunk in attempt to pull away once again but Dolberry laid one in to bring it back to a one sore game at 10:19, 62-60.
• Off the bench, Cameron Underwood came on to the floor to register the next six points by matching a Adam Moussa three-pointer then driving in to make a layup and completing the and-one play to still keep the game within reach at 8:08 with a score of 68-66.
• From that point, the Yellow Jackets would pull away and work to an 11-point lead after Caelin Hearne made one from beyond the arc with 3:46 left as BHSU turned it into a 15-point win, 92-77.

STATS FROM THE DAY:
• UCCS out-rebounded Black Hills State, 33-29, with Jezza McKenzie and Scott Joel recording a game high five defensive rebounds as McKenzie claimed a game high six total rebounds.
• Five different Mountain Lions scored double-digit points as Parker Gaddis scored a team high 13 points after shooting 5-of-12 from the field, including 1-of-4 from three-point. Wyatt Dolberry finished the night with 12 points off 5-of-7 shooting from the field and a perfect 2-of-2 from three while also gathering five rebounds.
• The Mountain Lions registered 38 points off the bench and shot 47.3 percent from the field (26-of-55) as the Yellow Jackets recorded a field-goal percentage of 55.9 percent (33-of-59) and just eight points off the bench with Joel Scott leading the way with 25 points.   
• BHSU also held the advantage in three-point percentage as the Yellow Jackets shot 44 percent (11-of-25) with UCCS shooting 30 percent (6-of-20).
• Geoff Kelly comes away with a team high two steals and adds four rebounds and four points to his stat sheet.
• Alijah Comithier finishes with 12 points after making 6-of-8 from the free-throw line and going 3-of-4 from the field as he also brought in three rebounds and one steal.

BEYOND THE BOX:
• Parker Gaddis 13-point performance goes down as a season high and is the first time this season he has led the team in scoring.
• Jon'il Fugett notches his seventh double-digit game of the season behind 7-of-8 from the charity stripe and 2-of-11 from the field.
• UCCS continues to best their opponent in rebounds by out-rebounding the opposition for the 11^th consecutive game.

UP NEXT:
• UCCS Men's Basketball is back inside Gallogly Events on New Year's Eve as the Mountain Lions play host to Colorado Mesa University for a 5 p.m. tip-off.  
 
SOCIAL:
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Facebook – Go Mountain Lions
 
As a member of the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference, the University of Colorado Colorado Springs competes in 16 varsity sports in NCAA Division II intercollegiate athletics.