LAKEWOOD, Colo. – The University of Colorado Colorado Springs men's basketball team dropped their third straight game Saturday night as the Mountain Lions fell to Colorado Christian University at a final score of 74-64.
INSIDE THE MATCHUP:
Final: UCCS 64, CCU 74
Records: UCCS (13-7, 7-6 RMAC), CCU (8-11, 4-9 RMAC)
Location: CCU Event Center | Lakewood, Colo.
Series: UCCS trails in the all-time series against CCU, 23-36, with the Cougars snapping a three-game UCCS win-streak.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
• Saturday night's away game saw limited offensive action within the first 10 minutes of the first half where the Mountain Lions held on to the lead for seven minutes and 10 seconds. UCCS started the game in the right direction with
Jon'il Fugett tallying the team's first four points to take the early 4-0 lead at 17:22.
• The Mountain Lions continued to hold on to the lead by working out to a 10-8 lead that included three points from both
Keegan Phillips and
Jayden Washington at the 12:11 mark but CCU suddenly turned it on by embarking on a 24-7 run after shooting 9-of-15 from the field and 4-of-7 from beyond the arc to post a 28-14 CCU lead with 5:19 left in the half.
• CCU eventually worked out to a 16-point lead at 27-21 but the Mountain Lions bounced back with 1:57 remaining by registering a 5-0 run as Washington scored the team's last six points for a team high nine in the half, helping make it a 40-29 CCU lead at half.
• Out of the intermission, CCU's Jason Gallant opened play with a knock-down jumper after scoring 11 in the first half to extend the UCCS deficit to 13 points. The Mountain Lions answered quickly with a 9-2 run as
Noah Baca led the way with four points before
Sufyan Elkannan drained a trey to bring the game within just six points at the 12:24 mark, 44-38
• UCCS and CCU traded the next few baskets as both teams turned up the defense with the Cougars outscoring UCCS just 4-1 in three minutes and 15 seconds to make it a 61-47 game at 5:19.
• As time began to wind down, the Mountain Lions began to show life once again by slashing the deficit to single-digit points as a 9-0 UCCS run wa produced by a three-pointer from both
Logan Bracamonte and Baca. Baca also notched the and-one play to make it 67-61 with 2:05 remaining.
• That would end up being the closest the Mountain Lions could get in the final two minutes as CCU's last seven points all came off made free throws to record the 74-64 final.
STATS FROM THE DAY:
• Both UCCS and CCU were similar as far as shooting percentages with the Cougars and Mountain Lions matching field goal percentages (44.4 percent). CCU came to have a slight advantage in three-point shooting by going 42.9 (6-of-14) to UCCS' 38.1 percent (8-of-21). From the charity stripe, the Mountain Lions made 8-of-10 while CCU shot 12-of-19.
• CCU also owned the advantage in second chance points (8-0), points in the paint (40-24), and points off turnovers (14-4). Both teams turned the ball over double-digit times Saturday night with UCCS recording 13 turnovers and CCU posting 12.
• UCCS was outrebounded 42-30 in the game as
Jayden Washington led the team with nine rebounds. On the other side, CCU's Isaiah Alonzo grabbed a game-high 14 boards to go along with his 11 points for a double-double.
• The Cougars had four double-digit scorers with Noah Kon and DJ McDonald scoring 17 points as Jason Gallant registered a game-high 22 points. The Mountain Lions' leading scorer was
Jon'il Fugett after he shot 6-of-9 from the field for 13 points.
• Beni Fungula came away with UCCS' lone block as
Jezza McKenzie added five assists and two steals.
Noah Baca also notched two steals as the redshirt sophomore represented the second Mountain Lion with double-digit points by scoring 12 points on the night.
BEYOND THE BOX:
• Jezza McKenzie has been a ball-hawk the last eight games with the sophomore tallying 15 steals in that span.
• Noah Baca netted a season-high 12 points as he also set a season-high in steals with two.
• Freshman
Jayden Washington has now made a three-pointer in five straight games as the forward bagged a new season high in rebounds by claiming nine.
UP NEXT:
UCCS Men's Basketball will look to get back in the win column next Friday, Jan. 27 as the Mountain Lions host New Mexico Highlands University for a 7 p.m. game inside the Gallogly Events Center.
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.
