COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – The University of Colorado Colorado Springs men's basketball team dropped Saturday's non-conference battle to Colorado School of Mines by a score of 66-64 in a game that came down to the wire.
INSIDE THE MATCHUP
- Final: UCCS 64, CSM 66
- Records: UCCS (2-2, 0-0 RMAC) | CSM (3-2, 0-0 RMAC)
- Facility | Location: Gallogly Events Center | Colorado Springs, Colo.
- All-Time Series: The Mountain Lions drop to 12-39 all-time to Colorado School of Mines with their last victory over the Orediggers coming on March 1st, 2022.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- The Mountain Lions got off to a good start to begin Saturday afternoon's match as they commanded a 7-2 lead at the 18:13 mark due to Xavier Martinez assisting Mac Stodart on a floating jumper to open the game and then finding Noah Baca for a three-pointer a possession later. The Orediggers responded and went on a 17-7 run over the next seven minutes of play to hold a 19-14 lead with around 11 minutes to go in the first half.
- UCCS got themselves right back into the game to close the half as their aggressiveness saw them reaching the free throw line 13 times in the last 10 minutes of the first as they made 11 of them. Forcing the issue and finding the charity stripe was largely the reason the Mountain Lions were able to keep the game tied at 33-33 heading into the break.
- Thirty seconds into the second half, Hannes Saar stole the ball from the Orediggers, taking it coast to coast to finish a lay-up and collecting a foul, making the free throw, and completing the three-point play. CSM responded immediately and went on a 17-4 run in the next six and a half minutes of play that would see UCCS down 50-40 with 12:40 to go in the game.
- The Mountain Lions could've let this affect them but were resilient instead. The next eight minutes of the game saw UCCS go on their own 17-7 run as a pair of free throws from Martinez knotted the game up at 57-57 with a little under four minutes remaining.
- After an Orediggers basket but CSM up two, Martinez found Joseph Dalton in the corner as he nailed a three to give the Mountain Lions their first lead since the 12:22 mark in the first half. The Orediggers would respond with a bucket of their own, but Dalton would reclaim the lead yet again after a turnaround fade away jumper put UCCS up 62-61with 2:20 left in the game.
- CSM would then draw a foul on a three-point attempt with a 1:05 left to go that also saw the Mountain Lions receive a technical foul in the process that would give the Orediggers five straight free throws. CSM guard Juani Dassie made three of the five attempts to give them a 64-62 lead. UCCS had opportunities to tie it but couldn't get one to fall and an Oredigger basket on the other end put them up four with little time remaining. Martinez hit a floater with two seconds left prompting the Mountain Lions to foul on the inbound. The 1-and-1 free throw attempt was missed by the Orediggers but with a second left, UCCS wasn't able to throw up a prayer on the rebound resulting in the final score of 66-64.
GAME STATISTICS
- UCCS lived at the free throw line today as they were 21-27 (77.8 percent) compared to the Orediggers who shot 7-15 (46.7 percent) from the line.
- Neither team had their three-ball hitting today as both teams attempted 18 total three-pointers and both teams only made five for a three-point percentage of 27.8 percent.
- The Mountain Lions crashed the offensive boards well as they grabbed 16 compared to CSM's 11. Despite this, the Orediggers did have the advantage on second chance points as they outscored UCCS 12-9 in those opportunities.
- Martinez led the Mountain Lions in points today as he notched 15 points to go along with a game high seven assists.
- The turnover battle was nearly even with UCCS having the slight edge (12-13) as they collected more steals (8-4), more rebounds (42-37), more assists (13-9), and more points from turnovers (12-11) as well.
BEYOND THE BOX SCORE
- Freshman point guard Xavier Martinez dished out seven assists today, passing his career mark of six that he set last game on November 16th against Northern New Mexico College as he is averaging 5.3 assists a game on his young career.
- The Mountain Lions haven't quite found their stroke from long range yet as today marked the third consecutive game where they shot below 30 percent from deep.
UP NEXT
- The Mountain Lions next game comes against Navajo Technical University in Salt Lake City UT. on Friday, November 24th at the WU Behnken Field House with action set to begin at 2 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 14 varsity sports in NCAA Division II intercollegiate athletics.
