LAKEWOOD, Colo. – The University of Colorado Colorado Springs men's basketball breezes past the Colorado Christian Cougars as they lead for all but two minutes of the contest and win 84-59.
INSIDE THE MATCH-UP
Final: UCCS 84, CCU 59
Records: UCCS (9-4, 3-2 RMAC), CCU (6-7, 2-3 RMAC)
Facility: CCU Event Center | Lakewood, Colo.
All-Time Series: UCCS continues to chip away at the Cougars lead in the all-time series as the Mountain Lions record improves to 25-37 against Colorado Christian.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- UCCS allowed the first basket of the game fifty seconds into the contest as Bradley Land went off the glass for two points to give CCU the 2-0 lead out of the gate. One minute and nine seconds later Jezza McKenzie made his way to the free throw line and tied the game at two hitting both of his tosses, and that would mark the end of CCU's leads for the evening as UCCS led the rest of the contest. After surrendering that first basket UCCS scored ten unanswered points to lead 10-2 with just over 15 minutes remaining in the first half.
- CCU finally got their shots to start falling but it took them about eight minutes to start turning the wheels on their offense. All the while the Mountain Lions stuck to their guns as they outscored the Cougars 35-22 over the remaining 14:07 of the opening half led by Jezza McKenzie who scored 11 for UCCS over that stretch as the Mountain Lions drained six of seven from deep to take the commanding 45-24 lead into the break at halftime.
- It took almost five minutes of the second half to elapse before the Cougars added a point to their first half total on a Jacob Everson free throw at the 15:32 mark of the second frame. It was a commanding 20-1 run for the Mountain Lions over that 4:28 as the black and gold continued to control the floor.
- CCU narrowly outscored the Mountain Lions over the final 14:34 of play, but the three point advantage of 32-29 over that time made no difference as UCCS cruised to the 84-59 win to finish perfect on their two-game road trip to start 2025.
STATS FROM THE GAME
- Xavier Martinez led all scorers in the contest with his 17 points off of 6-7 from the floor and 3-4 from deep.
- William Becker did not miss a shot in this game, going a perfect 5-5 from the floor and 2-2 from the free throw line.
- Both teams had seven offensive boards, but UCCS made their hay on the defensive glass finishing +7 in that category at 24-17.
- Both teams had one player foul out as Christopher Barnes got the early shower for CCU, and James Ellis fouling out for UCCS. Ellis had the only tough day for UCCS going 0-9 from the floor but did dish out two assists with five rebounds.
BEYOND THE BOX SCORE
- William Becker's streak of four straight double-doubles comes to an end as he could not extend it to five in Lakewood. He finished with 12 pts and eight rebounds vs the Cougars.
- UCCS has won five of the last seven meetings with CCU dating back to January of 2022.
SOCIAL
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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.
