HONOLULU, Hawaii – University of Colorado Colorado Springs Men's Basketball bounced back in a big way Saturday evening as the Mountain Lions topped the Hawaii Pacific University Sharks at a final score of 71-56 inside the Neil S. Blaisdell Center.
INSIDE THE MATCHUP:
Final: UCCS 71, HPU 56
Records: UCCS (6-1, 0-0 RMAC), HPU (3-1, 0-0 PacWest)
Location: Neal S. Blaisdell Center| Honolulu, Hawaii
Series: After the first-ever matchup between both programs, UCCS now leads Hawaii Pacific 1-0 in the all-time series.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
• Jezza McKenzie and the Mountain Lions broke the game open early on Saturday with the sophomore attaching his name to the first two scoring possessions of the game by swiping a steal to then have
Beni Fungula score on the other end as McKenzie then gathered in an offensive rebound and laid it back in for the 4-0 UCCS lead two minutes in.
• Two ties in the game would come across the scoreboard as
Mac Stodart broke up a 4-4 tie with a trey at 15:45. HPU hung around to tie the game once again at 9-9 before freshman
Jayden Washington scored his first points as a Mountain Lion with a dunk at 10:17 to bring the lead back to UCCS, 11-9. Washington's scoring play ignited a 16-4 drive for the Mountain Lions as the newcomer made his presence known with a three-pointer and his first career block in a six-minute span that
Logan Bracamonte topped off with a layup in the paint for a commanding 25-13 lead right before the 3:49 media timeout.
• Fungula then rattled the backboard with a dunk at the 1:45 mark to bring UCCS up to 27 first half points as the Sharks wouldn't go away and put up five points to close the half and head into the intermission down five points, 27-20.
• Out of halftime, it was the Mountain Lions who caught fire as they made a defensive stop in the opening possession and let McKenzie go to work as the guard hit a pull-up three-pointer then went on to net a jumper in the paint while adding his fifth and sixth points of the half in UCCS' next possession. Fungula joined in on the action with a driving layup to make it a perfect 4-of-4 from the field to start the second half for the Mountain Lions as they embarked on a 13-2 scoring drive that was a result of 5-of-9 shooting from the field to give UCCS their largest lead of the game at 18 points, 40-22 with 14:49 left to play.
• Stodart and
Sufyan Elkannan kept the strong second half surging with a pair of treys but the Sharks' Melo Sanchez kept HPU in the game with eight straight HPU points to bring it within 12 points at a score of 46-34 with 12:12 remaining.
• As the game began to wind down, HPU eventually worked back within a single-digit deficit of seven points and chipped away at the Mountain Lions to work a 61-54 score with 22:24 left to play, but that would be as close as the Sharks could get to the Mountain Lions as UCCS put on a nearly flawless performance to close the game out with a 10-2 run that included a perfect 6-of-6 from the charity stripe and 2-of-3 from the field to garner the 71-56 win.
STATS FROM THE DAY:
• The Mountain Lions drastically improved in the second half by bumping up first-half shooting numbers of a 29.73 field goal percentage (11-of-37) to 46.67 percent (14-of-30) in the second half, and an 18.75 three-point percentage (3-of-16) improving to 57.14 percent (4-of-7). UCCS also shot a stellar 14-of-17 (82.4 percent) from the free throw line, including a sharp 12-of-15 in the second half.
• UCCS dominated the boards over HPU 49-32 with the Mountain Lions garnering 14 offensive rebounds for 15 second chance points.
William Becker led the team with 10 rebounds as
Beni Fungula (nine),
Mac Stodart (eight), and
Jon'il Fugett (seven) nearly eclipsed double-digit rebounds.
• Leading the way in scoring for the Mountain Lions was
Mac Stodart with 14 points as he netted three 3-of-7 from beyond the arc and 3-of-4 at the free throw line.
Jezza McKenzie and
Beni Fungula tallied up double-digit points as well with 13 and 12 points, respectively. McKenzie added two assists and a block to his stat line with Fungula shooting 5-of-9 from the field.
• Off the bench,
David Jabedo and
Jayden Washington gathered five points each off a three-pointer and two made field goals as Washington finished his first collegiate game with three boards, one block, and one steal.
• Along with Fugett's seven boards came seven points, two assists, and one steal as Becker chipped in eight points on 2-of-3 from the field and a perfect 4-of-4 from the charity stripe with two steals and a blocked shot to go along with his 10 rebounds.
BEYOND THE BOX:
• Both
Jon'il Fugett and
Beni Fungula register season highs in rebounds with Becker extending his streak to four straight games with double-digit rebounds.
• As a team, the Mountain Lions collect a season high 49 rebounds with a season high 14 offensive boards.
• Jezza McKenzie set a new season high in field goal attempts with 11 as he records his third double-digit scoring performance of the season.
• Becker ranks third in the conference in rebounds per game (9.9) and paces the RMAC in field goal percentage shooting an impressive 72.7 percent.
UP NEXT:
UCCS Men's Basketball prepares for the start of conference play as the Mountain Lions hit the road to South Dakota to take on South Dakota Mines on Friday, Dec. 2 at 7:30 p.m., and No. 6 ranked Black Hills State University on Saturday, Dec. 3 at 6 p.m.
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.
