SPEARFISH, S.D. – The University of Colorado Colorado Springs men's basketball team falls short to the No. 6 nationally ranked Black Hills State University on Saturday night, 87-79.
INSIDE THE MATCHUP:
Final: UCCS 79, #6 BHSU 87
Records: UCCS (7-2, 1-1 RMAC), BHSU (8-0, 2-0 RMAC)
Location: Donald E. Young Center| Spearfish, S. D.
Series: The Mountain Lions trail in the all-time series against BHSU, 11-13.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
• Saturdays RMAC Quarterfinal rematch was neck and neck right from the start with the Mountain Lions and Yellow Jackets trading baskets up to UCCS' first lead at 8-7 off a
Beni Fungula layup at 15:22. Black Hills State proceeded to work back out-front putting together an 11-1 run to put UCCS in an 18-11 hole with 12:47 remaining.
• But the Mountain Lions continued to challenge the Yellow Jackets with Fungula coming out to drain a three-pointer on the other end to bring the game within three at 22-19 at 10:45. After two defensive stops, Fungula showed out in the defensive side of the ball by making a third consecutive stop on a steal off an inbound pass with
Jon'il Fugett coming out on the other end to find the bottom of the net from long range for a tied 22-22 game.
• The shots from beyond the arc continued to fall for the Mountain Lions as
Jezza McKenzie made scoring appearances for UCCS' next eight points as he netted two treys and a layup to put UCCS just two points back at the 2:36 mark, 32-30.
• Then coming off the bench to match a Joel Scott layup was
Keegan Phillips as he registered his first three-pointer of the season to cut the deficit to just one point, 34-33. With 1:34 remaining in the first half, UCCS kept coming at Black Hills State as McKenzie's second straight assist landed in the hands of Fugett who nailed the go-ahead three-pointer for a 36-34 lead.
• Phillips added his second three-pointer of the half to push UCCS ahead further as Fugett capped off the first half with a trey to close the half with 13 points and give the Mountain Lions their largest lead of the half, 42-37.
• In the second half, Fungula opened play up with a layup off a BHSU turnover to extend a UCCS run to 11-3 that carried over from the first half as he improved the Mountain Lion lead out to 44-37. But UCCS' lead started to shrink as the reigning RMAC Player of the Year Joel Scott started to heat up by scoring seven points in a 17-5 run that included a perfect 5-of-5 from the field, 2-of-2 from three-point, and 5-of-5 from the free throw line for BHSU as the Yellow Jackets squeaked back out front 54-49 with a large chunk left to play at 15:34.
• Phillips rattled the backboard with a dunk to bring the game back within three points and slowed the Black Hills State momentum to a 54-51 game, but BHSU pushed ahead to their largest lead of the game at the 6:56 mark after feeding a 51.9 percent second-half field goal percentage for a 71-59 lead.
• Fugett would turn it on for the remaining seven minutes scoring 12 of the team's 19 points with
Logan Bracamonte adding some offense of his own by way of a three-pointer at the 4:38 mark to make it a five-point game, 74-69, but that would be as close as the Mountain Lions could get as the Yellow Jackets held on to finish the game with the win, 87-79.
STATS FROM THE DAY:
• Both teams were impressive from long range on Saturday night with the Mountain Lions outshooting the Yellow Jackets 48.3 percent (14-of-29) to BHSU's 43.5 percent (10-of-23). Black Hills State came to hold the advantage in field goal percentage and free throw percentage shooting 47.5 percent from the field and 76 percent from the charity stripe as UCCS shot 40 percent and 62.5 percent, respectively.
• Jon'il Fugett paced the Mountain Lion scoring with a stellar 31 points after registering 11-of-21 from the field, 6-of-9 from beyond the arc, and 3-of-3 from the free throw line while also adding a team-high eight rebounds, one assist, and one steal.
• Beni Fungula and
Jezza McKenzie also eclipsed double digit points with 14 and 15 points, respectively. Fungula posted a team-high four assists and two steals while shooting 6-of-11 from the field as McKenzie registered seven rebounds and shot 3-of-6 from three-point range.
• Keegan Phillips came off the bench to net nine points on 3-of-7 from the field and 2-of-2 from beyond the arc as he also grabbed three boards.
• BHSU's Joel Scott ended the night with a double-double after going 9-of-14 from the field and 10-of-14 from the charity stripe for a game-high 28 points and 14 rebounds. BHSU's PJ Hays accounted for over half of the team's three-pointers after going 6-of-7 as he finished with 22 points.
• BHSU came to outrebound the Mountain Lions 44-40 in the contest as UCCS caused a game-high 14 BHSU turnovers in which they turned into 17 points.
• In the paint, both team were nearly neck and neck with UCCS notching 30 points while the Yellow Jackets scored 32 points in the paint.
BEYOND THE BOX:
• Jon'il Fugett had a career night as a Mountain Lion setting new career highs in points (31), three-point field goals made (six), field goals made (11), field goal attempts (21), and minutes (38).
• The Mountain Lions were outrebounded as a team for just the third time this season.
• Jezza McKenzie tied his season-high in three-point field goals made (three) and set a new season-high in three-point field goal attempts (six).
• Keegan Phillips scores a career-high nine points as the Mountain Lions set a new season-high in three-point percentage after shooting 48.3 percent on Saturday night.
UP NEXT:
UCCS Men's Basketball returns home next weekend by starting out with a home game against Colorado Mesa University on Friday, Dec. 9 at 7 p.m. for Black Out Night inside the Gallogly Events Center. The first 1,000 UCCS Students will receive a FREE Black Out Night t-shirt.
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.
