COLORADO SPRINGS, COLO. – The University of Colorado Colorado Springs men's basketball team captures a dominating conference win against the visiting Black Hills State Yellow Jackets by a score of 92-63.
INSIDE THE MATCHUP:
Final: UCCS 92, BHSU 63
Records: UCCS (16-7, 11-6 RMAC), BHSU (16-6, 14-3 RMAC)
Facility: Gallogly Events Center | Colorado Springs, Colo.
All-Time Series: Under head coach
Jeff Culver, UCCS extends their series lead against Black Hills State with a record of 11-9.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
- Tonight's game featured a lot of early excitement with both teams swapping buckets. An early Bobby Martin jumper tied the game at 10 a piece, but a pair of three-pointers from the Yellow Jackets put some distance between the teams with BHSU taking an 18-10 lead.
- Despite the deficit, the Mountain Lions stuck to their game plan and started to claw back from what was the largest lead for Black Hills State. UCCS wouldn't let their opponent out of their sight as they kept pace with the RMAC's first place team.
- An Alijah Comithier steal led to a fastbreak bucket to tie the game at 25. Afterward, Cameron Underwood went to work, drawing fouls on the next two possessions and going to free throw line where he made each of his four shots to put the Mountain Lions ahead 29-25.
- As the clock was ticking down in the last minute of the first half, Jon'il Fugett sunk a long-range jump shot for three points and was then followed by a Jezza McKenzie fastbreak bucket off his own steal to put the Mountain Lions up nine going into the half and the momentum on their side.
- It was all UCCS in the second half as stellar defensive play, aided by lights out shooting from the floor turned tonight's game into a runaway.
- There were plenty of highlights to go around in the second half. After passing the midway point in the second half, Geoff Kelly was the one to give his teammates their time in the spotlight as he dished out assists on four consecutive made shots from the field.
- As the baskets kept on coming, David Jabedo came off the bench to capitalize on a Noah Baca steal by sinking a three-point shot that gave the Mountain Lions their largest lead of the night with a score of 85-53.
- With the game well out of reach for the Yellow Jackets, the Mountain Lions played conservative basketball in the final minutes of the game and emerged victorious with a dominating 92-63 win as the buzzer sounded.
STATS FROM THE GAME:
- Four Mountain Lions tallied double-digit points tonight with Jon'il Fugett leading the way with 19 points. Jezza McKenzie followed shortly behind with 17 points of his own while Alijah Comithier and Cameron Underwood were the remaining two Mountain Lions to hit the 10-point mark.
- Geoff Kelly and Comithier dished the ball around well tonight, with each collecting five assists.
- The Mountain Lions were electric from three-point range in the second half, making seven of nine shots from beyond the arc for a shooting percentage of 77.7 percent. Fugett led the team with three makes from downtown.
- While the UCCS offensive showed up tonight, their defense also came to play as they forced 20 turnovers and scored 24 points off those opportunities.
- Five Mountain Lions recorded three steals each on the night.
BEYOND THE BOX SCORE:
- Alijah Comithier recorded a season-high in both assists (five) and steals (three).
- As a team, the Mountain Lions shot better from three-point range than they have in any game they have played this year, shooting 47.6 percent from deep.
- The Mountain Lions racked up the steals tonight as they collected 17, the most they have had as a team this season.
- Coming into the game, the Mountain Lions had a big task in trying to limit the production of Black Hills State forward, Joel Scott, who ranks second in the nation in double-doubles. The UCCS defense only allowed seven points from Scott, his season-low, and the second fewest he has scored in a game in his BHSU career.
- William Becker recorded a season high in steals as he was among the five Mountain lions who collected three each.
- The Mountain Lions move back up to fourth in the RMAC standings as Colorado School of Mines falls to Fort Lewis College 62-60.
UP NEXT:
- UCCS returns home tomorrow night to battle the visiting Chadron State College Eagles at 7:30 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.
