COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – The University of Colorado Colorado Springs men's basketball team shot 38.2 percent from the field to take a 58-57 victory over Colorado School of Mines.
INSIDE THE MATCH UP
- Final: UCCS 58, #5 CSM 57
- Records: UCCS (17-10, 11-8 RMAC) | #5 CSM (23-4, 17-2 RMAC)
- Facility | Location: Gallogly Events Center | Colorado Springs, Colo.
- All-Time Series: UCCS moves to 13-41 in the all-time series against the Orediggers.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- The Mountain Lions took an early 4-0 lead in the first half off of slams by William Becker and Jezza McKenzie before allowing seven straight to the Orediggers to trail by three in the first few minutes of action. Despite falling behind, McKenzie drained the only three point shot for the Mountain Lions in the first 20 minutes of action to spark a period consisting of three more lead changes before CSM went on a 6-0 scoring run to go up 16-10 with less than 10 minutes to go in the first half.
- The Orediggers would not give up the lead again in the first half, but UCCS kept up with the pace to keep the deficit to just four points entering halftime. While the Mountain Lions did not shoot particularly well in the first half, they found a way to hold Mines to 28.6 percent from the field thanks to their pestering defense to go into halftime down 26-22.
- The beginning of the second half did not go the Mountain Lions' way, as CSM went on a 15-5 run in the first seven minutes to take the largest lead of the game at 14 points. Just when it seemed like the Orediggers were going to run away with the lead, sophomore guard Xavier Martinez responded with five straight points off two free throws and a three to spark a 22-13 UCCS run to decrease their deficit to five points with three minutes left to play in the game.
- After the 10-minute-long Mountain Lion scoring run, CSM's Riley Schroeder quieted the crowd with a three of his own to push their lead up to eight. In need of another momentum shift, UCCS looked to a familiar face in Martinez, who yet again hit two more free throws and sank a three-point shot to get the black and gold within three points with a minute and thirty seconds remaining and an opportunity to defeat the fifth ranked team in the nation.
- Both teams struggled to get a bucket in crunch time until senior guard Hannes Saar was fouled and hit his first free throw to move the score to 57-55 with 16 seconds left to go in the game. With no timeouts remaining, Saar's second free throw missed and was grabbed by Schroeder to give possession of the ball back to the Orediggers with time counting down fast. After the board on Saar's missed free throw, Schroeder attempted a pass to clear the ball over half court but it was intercepted by Martinez to give UCCS the ball back with nine seconds on the game clock. Martinez would give the ball up to Becker who sent it to McKenzie in the left corner, who then found Martinez wide open behind the arc as he drained another three-point shot to take a one point lead. After the CSM timeout with 4.3 seconds left to play, the UCCS defense tightened up and did not allow Mines to take a shot as they secured the 58-57 victory.
GAME STATISTICS
- Martinez was the only Mountain Lion to finish in double digits with 22 points.
- The Mountain Lions finished with 35 rebounds to the Orediggers' 46 with Becker's eight being the team leader.
- The Mountain Lions shot 38.2 percent from the field (21-of-55), 28 percent from the three-point line (7-of-25) and 56.3 percent from the free throw line (9-of-16).
- UCCS had 11 points off turnovers, 26 in the paint, eight second chance, 13 off fast breaks, and nine from the bench.
BEYOND THE BOX SCORE
- Thursday evening's victory was the first win against a top 10 nationally ranked team since Jan. 12, 2024 against Fort Lewis and the first win over a top five team under Jeff Culver.
- Thursday was the first win for the Mountain Lions against CSM since the 2022 RMAC Quarterfinal (Mar. 1, 2022).
UP NEXT
- The Mountain Lions will play their final regular season game against Regis University at home on Saturday, Mar. 1 with opening tipoff scheduled for 3:00 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 16 varsity sports in NCAA Division II intercollegiate athletics.
