DENVER, Colo. – UCCS Men's Basketball heads back home with their fourth consecutive win after Saturday night's impressive shooting performance lifts the Mountain Lions to a 79-70 road win over Metropolitan State University of Denver.
INSIDE THE MATCHUP:
Final: UCCS 79, MSU Denver 70
Records: UCCS (19-7, 14-6 RMAC), MSU Denver (16-9, 10-9 RMAC)
Location: Auraria Events Center | Denver, Colo.
Series: Under Head Coach
Jeff Culver, UCCS trails 11-12 in the all-time series against MSU Denver with the Mountain Lions winning the last four matchups.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
• Saturday night's matchup started out in favor of the Roadrunners who claimed the tip-off and score to start the game in what was MSU Denver's only lead of the half, 2-0.
• Freshman
Mac Stodart picked things up for the Mountain Lions by answering on the opposite end to tie the game as a defensive stand against Laolu Oke resulted in the first of eight made three-pointer in the half with a three from
Jon'il Fugett.
• Fugett's go-ahead three at 18:06 put the Mountain Lions ahead 5-2 with the guard making another shooting appearance in the 16-minute mark to account for his first half six points and 10-5 UCCS lead.
• UCCS handled the ball efficiently through the half and consistently found the bottom of the net at 53.3 percent from the field as
Geoff Kelly improved on the shooting performance from beyond the arc with another UCCS three to help maintain the 26-22 lead halfway through the first half.
• MSU Denver struggled to contain the Mountain Lions' shooting with UCCS bringing the half to an end by outscoring the Roadrunners 13-9 with four treys including two from
Jezza McKenzie who net both of his field-goals to aid UCCS in a 41-31 advantage at halftime.
• Redshirt senior
Geoff Kelly was the Mountain Lions' leading scorer in the opening 20 minutes at nine points and his offense production did not slow in the second half after turning a steal into two points on the other end to maintain a 10-point lead with UCCS' first bucket, 43-33.
• After containing Oke to one point in the first half, Oke burst onto the scene to record six straight points for the Roadrunners as the deficit lessened to four points with 16:43 left, 43-39.
• Yet to give up the lead through 28 minutes of play, UCCS extended their lead to 10 points after their second 8-0 run ran through the MSU Denver defense off the hands of
Alijah Comithier and Stodart who netted five and three points, respectively.
• With the game winding down and the Mountain Lions grasping onto a 67-55 lead following a pair of Comithier free throws, the Roadrunners generated a run of their own that Kenean Ghage capped off for seven points and a new score 67-62 with 3:26 remaining.
• The Roadrunners came as close as four points to the Mountain Lions after Oke made two free throws with just 1:45 left in the game, but Stodart would find an open Kelly from atop of the arc who knocked down the three to hold off MSU Denver as the Mountain Lions carried on to claim the 79-70 win.
STATS FROM THE DAY:
• UCCS was impressive in all aspects on offense with the Mountain Lions finishing 50.8 percent from the field (30-of-59), 52.4 percent from three-point range (11-of-21), and 80 percent from the charity stripe (8-of-10).
• The Mountain Lions kept the Roadrunners under wraps at 38.3 from the field and 31.3 percent from beyond the arc as UCCS scored a game high 16 points off 12 MSU Denver turnovers.
• Geoff Kelly shot a stellar 6-of-8 from the field and 2-of-3 from three to finish with 14 points.
• Alijah Comithier led all scorers on Saturday night with 29 points after making 11 field goals and going 5-of-6 from the free throw line as the sophomore added a team high eight rebounds.
• Mac Stodart and
Jon'il Fugett scored 11 and 10 points, respectively, as they each went 2-of-3 from long range.
BEYOND THE BOX:
• UCCS notches their fourth weekend of recording a conference sweep as the Mountain Lions also completed regular season sweeps over CCU and MSU Denver.
• The Mountain Lions win their fourth consecutive game to register their third winning streak of four or more games this season.
• Geoff Kelly records his third double-digit game of the season with
Alijah Comithier recording his 15
th 20-point game of the season.
• UCCS made double-digit three-pointers in both victories over the Roadrunners this season.
UP NEXT:
• UCCS' regular season will finish next week with home games against New Mexico Highlands University on Tuesday, Feb. 22 and South Dakota School of Mines on Thursday, Feb. 24.
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.
