LAKEWOOD, Colo. – UCCS Men's Basketball mounts a thrilling 14-point comeback to defeat Colorado Christian University 95-90 in overtime on Friday night. Comithier led the way for the Mountain Lions after a career night that was backed by a 46-point and 15-rebound double-double performance to move the sophomore past 1,000 career points after hitting the game-tying buzzer beater three to send it into overtime.
INSIDE THE MATCHUP:
Final: UCCS 95, CCU 90
Records: UCCS (18-7, 13-6 RMAC), CCU (7-18, 4-15 RMAC)
Location: CCU Event Center | Lakewood, Colo.
Series: Under Head Coach
Jeff Culver, UCCS holds the advantage in the all-time series against CCU having won the last two meetings for an 8-6 record.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
• The Mountain Lions got off to a hot start by making their first three field goals as
Mac Stodart put up UCCS' first points after draining a shot from beyond the arc.
Alijah Comithier followed it up by driving the lane and throwing down a dunk as
Jon'il Fugett made a jumper to give the Mountain Lions an early 7-4 lead in the first two minutes of play.
• Redshirt senior
Geoff Kelly tacked on a pair of free throws shortly after to give what would be the Mountain Lions largest lead of the opening half at 9-4. But CCU's William Ross helped push the Cougars ahead 12-11 for their third lead of the half at 13:47.
• The rest of the half belonged to the Cougars with a field-goal percentage of 45.16 percent as CCU maintained the lead into halftime by jumping out to an 11-point lead of 42-31 after putting together an 11-1 run in the remaining two and a half minutes.
• The second half would tell a different story as Comithier began to quickly build off his 10-point first half by scoring the Mountain Lions first seven points, but CCU kept pace with Comithier and the Mountain Lions to keep a 49-38 lead through the first three minutes of play.
• With UCCS beginning to find an offensive rhythm, Fugett stepped in to cut the CCU deficit down to six points by netting the next seven points after hitting a jumper at 15:44 to bring the score to 51-45.
• UCCS continued to come at the Cougars with
Devin Smith coming off the bench to get the job done on both sides of the ball by finding the basket in back-to-back possessions after posting his third block of the game that led to his second basket and a 55-51 score with 12:40 left to play.
• Just as UCCS was gaining momentum a technical foul came the Mountain Lions' way that resulted in two made CCU made free throws as Jason Gallant followed it up by making a layup on the other end and converting on the and-one play to extend the CCU lead to 61-53.
• The Cougars eventually worked their way out to another double-digit lead by riding the hot-hand of Williams and by heading to the free throw line after UCCS put CCU in the double bonus half way through the half, 71-61.
• Despite trailing over 75 percent of the game, UCCS was still chipping away at the Cougars. At the 2:54 mark the Mountain Lions found their opening and attacked with
Bobby Martin registering his first steal of the game to help tip the momentum in UCCS' direction as he forced his way to the line to knock down a pair of free throws to make it 78-71.
• It was only the beginning in a wild three minutes as Comithier's career night took off as he knocked down a floating jump shot and three-pointer down the stretch with Fugett adding a clutch basket with 50 seconds left to bring it within two points, 80-78.
• After CCU went to the line to go 1-of-2, Comithier grabbed the defensive glass to give the Mountain Lions an opportunity that Kelly continued to keep alive as the senior claimed an offensive board off a missed three-pointer.
• Then with just five second left, head coach
Jeff Culver signaled for the timeout to give UCCS one last chance at a good look. Out of the timeout, Comithier stood on the sideline to register an inbound pass that led to a quick three-point opportunity which ricocheted to the far corner of the court. Chasing down the rebound was Comithier who gathered it in for the moving fadeaway three-pointer at the buzzer which found the bottom of the net to send it into overtime.
• With the momentum in hand, CCU had no answer for the Mountain Lions in overtime as the defense contained the Cougars to nine points on 3-of-9 from the field with Comithier notching another 10 points to help seal the big 95-90 win off a career high double-double.
STATS FROM THE DAY:
• Both teams had to show their ability to make shots from the charity stripe as a total of 56 fouls were called Friday night with the Cougars finishing 83.3 percent (30-of-36) and UCCS shooting 74.4 percent (29-of-39) from the free throw line.
• The Mountain Lions recovered nicely from a rough first half field goal percentage of 32.26 percent by turning around to outshoot the Cougars 46.9 percent to 41.5 percent from the field.
• UCCS dominated the paint by recording 44 points while holding CCU to 32 points in the paint.
• Alijah Comithier was a force to be reckon with by finishing his career night 66.7 percent from the field (16-of-24), 78.6 percent from the free throw line (11-of-14), and 75 percent from beyond the arc (3-of-4). The redshirt sophomore posted a stellar 46 points and 15 rebounds while adding one block and two steals, including 36 points in the second half and overtime combined.
• Jon'il Fugett added 17 points after going 6-of-13 from the field and 4-of-6 from the charity stripe as he also recorded five rebounds and four steals.
• Geoff Kelly shot a perfect 6-of-6 from the free throw line with four assists and three rebounds.
BEYOND THE BOX:
• Alijah Comithier eclipsed 1,000 career points on a night where he also set a new career high in points, rebounds, while additionally tying the program record for the second most points scored in a single game (Jack Bain, Feb. 17, 2004). With Friday night's double-double, Comithier has notched his third double-double of the season.
• Devin Smith registered a season high three blocks.
• UCCS' 26 personal fouls are a new season high as the Mountain Lions also went to the line a season high 39 times.
• The Mountain Lions have won their last three games as they have outscored their opponents 274-221 in that span.
• UCCS walked away with their third lowest turnover count of the season with eight.
UP NEXT:
• UCCS Men's Basketball will remain in the Metropolitan area as they turn around to visit MSU Denver tomorrow night for a 6 p.m. tip-off.
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.
