COLORADO SPRINGS, COLO. – The University of Colorado Colorado Springs Mountain Lions men's basketball team wins a tight game against the MSU Denver Roadrunners by a score of 67-64 with help from an Alijah Comithier double-double.
 
INSIDE THE MATCHUP:
Final: UCCS 67, MSU Denver 64
Records: UCCS (11-6, 6-5 RMAC), MSU Denver (12-4, 6-4 RMAC)
Facility: Gallogly Events Center | Colorado Springs, Colo.
All-Time Series: UCCS improves to a 10-51 record against the Metro State Roadrunners.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED:

• The UCCS offense got started with a bang when Alijah Comithier found room in the paint and put the Mountain Lions on the board with a two-handed dunk. Comithier took control on the next possession as he sunk a two-point jumper from the free throw line to give the Mountain Lions the early lead.
• The teams went back and forth surrendering and recapturing the lead over the first couple minutes of the game. That was until a Mac Stodart three-pointer put the Mountain Lions back in front 18-15 with eight minutes remaining in the half. While the game remained tight until the final buzzer, the Mountain Lions never trailed from that point on.
• With time winding down and the score tied at 27 a piece late in the first half, Geoff Kelly broke the tie with a layup that sent the Mountain Lions into halftime with a 29-27 advantage.
• Coming out of the break, the Mountain Lions got right back to work with a Jon'il Fugett three-point bucket. They would continue to knock down shot after shot with Fugett leading the way as the Mountain Lions went on an 11-3 run to open the second half.
• Despite the hot start, the Roadrunners came crawling back and capitalized on a lot of opportunities with some hot shooting of their own to tie the game at 50-50 with 9:06 left on the clock.
• The story of the first half continued throughout the remainder of the game as each team traded baskets down the stretch. With the score tied a 55, Alijah Comithier knocked down two three-point buckets on back-to-back possessions. A strong MSU Denver team would not be deterred as again they brought the score back to even after being down by six.
• Comithier was relentless as he drew a foul with little over a minute remaining in the game and sunk his first free throw. The Mountain Lion defense was able to lock down after the second free throw was missed to prevent the Roadrunners from taking a late lead.
• With the clock ticking away and the Mountain Lions hanging on by a thread, Fugett took matters into his own hands as he nailed a shot from downtown to extend the lead to four.
• Another strong defensive stand allowed Fugett to find Bobby Martin for a quick layup that put the Mountain Lions up 67-61 with 0:17 remaining.
• After sinking three free-throws on the following possession, the Roadrunners had an opportunity to send the game to overtime. Coming out of a timeout with only :05 on the clock, MSU Denver was able to get a shot off, but the attempt fell short which sealed the win for the Mountain Lions.

 
STATS FROM THE GAME:

• With 12 rebounds and 21 points, Alijah Comithier records his second double-double of the season.
• UCCS continues to dominate the boards as they outrebounded MSU Denver 51-38
• The Mountain Lions improved their shooting in the second half as they shot 43.8% from the field in the final 20 minutes after only shooting 34.3 percent in the first half.
• The Roadrunners never let the Mountain Lions out of their sight as the game was tied a total of seven times. Despite reaching their biggest lead of 11 points shortly coming out of halftime, the Mountain Lions only outscored the opponent by one point in the second half.

 
BEYOND THE BOX SCORE:

• The Mountain Lions have now won six of their last eight games against MSU Denver and they extend their current win streak against the Roadrunners to three games.
• Complementary basketball has benefited the Mountain Lions this season. In games where the Mountain Lions score less than 70 points, they improve to 2-1 on the season as they play well on the defensive side of the ball in these low-scoring matchups.
• Jon'il Fugett brought down a season high seven rebounds.
• Three points marks the smallest margin of victory for the Mountain Lions this season.

 
UP NEXT:

• UCCS is back in action tomorrow night, January 22^nd, with another home contest against the visiting Colorado Christian Cougars.

 
SOCIAL:
Twitter – @GoMountainLions
Instagram – @gomountainlions
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.