RAPID CITY, S.D. – University of Colorado Colorado Springs men's basketball mounts a second half comeback after being down as much 13 points to South Dakota School of Mines & Technology on Friday night as the Mountain Lions captured the 74-71 win to open conference play.
INSIDE THE MATCHUP:
Final: UCCS 74, SDSMT 71
Records: UCCS (7-1, 1-0 RMAC), SDSMT (1-6, 0-1 RMAC)
Location: SDSMT King Center| Rapid City, S. D.
Series: The Mountain Lions extend their winning streak against South Dakota Mines to three straight games and improves their all-time record to a favorable 11-5.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
• Both teams worked the iron in the first half as
William Becker and the Mountain Lions got things going by making an opening stop with Becker laying it in on the other end for the first bucket of the game. The Mountain Lions started the game off hot making their first four field goals with
Beni Fungula accounting for four points, including a dunk at 17:08 to make it 8-3.
• But after SDSMT found their first basket by way of a trey, it was only a sign to come as the Hardrockers began to heat up from beyond the arc. South Dakota Mines made nine of their first 13 points from beyond the arc for their second lead at 13-11 before
Jon'il Fugett pulled up to drain a three-pointer of his own to push the Mountain Lions back ahead with 13:38 left to play.
• Out of the 13:10 media timeout, Fugett made another scoring appearance to take a three-point lead as the Hardrockers went long range by making two treys to climb ahead 19-16.
Logan Bracamonte then worked up the court to tie things up once again as he drained a long range shot to make it 19-19. But the Hardrockers continued to rely on three-ball, and it paid out as SDSMT regained the lead off a layup and Brevin Walter three-pointer. SDSMT would hold onto the lead for the remainder of the half and closed out the first 20 minutes with a 40-31 lead as Fungula scored UCCS' last eight points for 15 points heading into halftime and the Hardrockers going 8-of-15 from beyond the arc.
• In the second half, the Mountain Lions came out strong with a 7-2 run and brought the game within four points off a driving Fungula layup to start the half as Fugett netted a trey followed by a
Mac Stodart jumper that quickly made the game 42-38 at 18:17.
• After Becker helped alleviate yet another SDSMT three-pointer with a dunk to keep it within five points at 17:04, both teams went on a four minute and eight second scoring drought before the Hardrockers netted two three-pointers to take a double-digit lead, 51-40.
• Fungula continued to have himself a game scoring the Mountain Lions' next eight points and forcing the Hardrockers into foul trouble with UCCS reaching the bonus at the 11:03 mark, as UCCS still trailed 58-48 at the 8:03 media timeout.
• As the game began to wind down, the Mountain Lions made their presence known in a big way by stringing together a 14-4 run that lasted just over four minutes and brought the game to an even 64-64 tie. Bracamonte added two three-pointers in the run with Fugett capping it off with his third steal of the game as the senior went coast-to-coast for game-tying layup at 2:31.
• The Hardrockers would work themselves to the line two different times to capture a 66-64 lead and 68-66 lead, but Becker brought down the house to tie the game at 66-66 with Bracamonte hitting the game-tying shot for the seventh game tie at 1:17.
• SDMST then missed a reverse layup on other end as Fugett drove the basket and drew the foul for a chance to take the lead. But after two misses, Becker came up in the clutch situation to gather the offensive board and put it back for the 70-68 lead with 34 seconds remaining.
• After Fungula made a pair of free throws following the Mountain Lions' defensive stand that included a monster block from Becker for his fourth of the game, the Hardrockers made things interesting with Walter making SDSMT's 13
th three-pointer for a one-point game with 10 seconds left.
• A Hardrocker foul would come through after a successful inbound pass from the Mountain Lions which led to Fungula draining another pair of free throws to hold the 74-71 lead with seven seconds left in the game. A defensive stop was the only step left in an RMAC win and UCCS did just that as the game-tying three hit the front of the rim with clock hitting zero for the Mountain Lion win.
STATS FROM THE DAY:
• UCCS trailed as much as 13 points with 9:03 left in the second half as the Mountain Lions battled back to hold South Dakota Mines to 29.4 percent (10-of-34) from the field and 31.3percent from long range (5-of-16) in the second half. Meanwhile, the Mountain Lions stayed consistent shooting a total 47.5 percent from the field, including 14-of-29 (48.3 percent) from the field in the first half and 15-of-32 (46.9 percent) in the second half.
• Beni Fungula went off for a season-high 33 points after posting 12-of-17 (70.6 percent) from the field, 8-of-11 from the charity stripe (72.7 percent) while also adding seven rebounds and a steal. Notching a double-double Friday night was
William Becker who also shot lights out with 5-of-7 from the field for 10 points that was paired with 12 rebounds, four blocks, and an assist.
• Jon'il Fugett and
Logan Bracamonte each contributed double-digit games as well with 14 and 11 points, respectively. Fugett also recorded five assists and three steals with the senior and Bracamonte combining to net five of UCCS' six three-pointers.
• The Mountain Lions dominated the paint by scoring 42 points while limiting the Hardrockers to 16 points in the paint. South Dakota Mines net 13 of their 24 made field goals from beyond the arc as they finished the night shooting 41.9 percent (13-of-31).
• The boards belonged to UCCS as the Mountain Lions out-rebounded the Hardrockers 41-31 in the contest.
BEYOND THE BOX:
• Beni Fungula's 33 points, 12 made field goals, eight made free throws, and 11 free throw attempts are the most by any Mountain Lion this season.
• In
William Becker's second double-double performance of the season, the redshirt junior set season-highs in rebounds (12) and blocks (four) as he fueled UCCS' highest blocked shot count of the season (six). Becker also inks his name into the program record books again by registering a tie for the eighth most blocks in a single for the second time in his career. Becker moves up to 88 career blocks and remains second all-time behind Boston Celtics guard Derrick White (136).
• Jezza McKenzie brought in a season-high nine rebounds.
UP NEXT:
UCCS Men's Basketball is back in action tomorrow night as the Mountain Lions travel to Spearfish, S.D. to take on No. 6 ranked Black Hills State University 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.
