RAPID CITY, S.D. – The University of Colorado Colorado Springs men's basketball team secured a 65-54 victory over South Dakota Mines inside the King Center on Thursday evening as Mountain Lion head coach Jeff Culver picked up his 200^th career win.
 
INSIDE THE MATCHUP
Final: UCCS 65, SDM 54
Records: UCCS (14-7, 8-5 RMAC), SDM (4-17, 4-9 RMAC)
Location: SDSMT King Center | Rapid City, S.D.
All-Time Series: With the win, UCCS snapped a three-game losing streak against the Hardrockers and moves to 12-8 in the all-time series.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED

• The Mountain Lions set the tone early against the Hardrockers as they collected a pair of offensive boards on their first possession before grabbing the first points of the game off a three-pointer from Derik Pranger. Following a quick jumper made by South Dakota Mines guard Abel Hutchison, UCCS broke the game open with a 17-2 run that forced Hardrockers' head coach Eric Glenn to take a timeout at the 12:41 mark of the first half with the Mountain Lion lead ballooning to 20-4.
• Glenn's timeout paid dividends for the Hardrockers as the Mountain Lions were held scoreless for the next five minutes of play while allowing six unanswered points that cut the lead to 20-10. A dunk from William Becker broke the scoring drought for the Mountain Lions with 7:14 remaining in the opening period, but points continued to be at a premium for both teams throughout the remainder of the half as UCCS took a 27-17 advantage to the intermission.
• The Hardrockers came out of the locker room with some momentum as they scored seven of the first 10 points in the second period to cut the UCCS advantage to just six points, 30-24, at the 16:34 mark. With their lead in the single digits for the first time since the opening moments of the game, Becker and Xavier Martinez keyed a 12-4 run for the Mountain Lions that pushed the cushion back to 14 points, 42-28, with 11:42 remaining in the game.
• South Dakota Mines continued to battle, however, as six points from Hutchison sparked a 10-2 streak for the Hardrockers in the ensuing four minutes of action that cut the UCCS lead back to just six points. After a flurry of scoring from both teams that resulted in the Mountain Lions clinging to a five-point lead, Becker took matters into his own hands as he grabbed a steal and took the ball the other way for a flush that gave UCCS a 54-47 lead with just over four minutes left to play.
• A three-pointer from Mac Terry on the next possession for South Dakota Mines made it a four-point game, but UCCS responded with a trey of their own by Hannes Saar and never looked back as they finished off an 11-point road victory.

GAME STATISTICS

• Becker recorded his 11^th double-double of the season as he led the team with 18 points and 11 rebounds. The 6-foot-9 forward also added two blocks and two steals while shooting 7-for-10 from the field and 4-for-4 from the free throw line.
• Saar and Martinez also reached double-digit scoring figures with Saar netting 16 points and Martinez adding 10. Martinez continued to dish out assists at a high clip as he recorded seven helpers in the game, marking his second-highest output of the season in the category.
• As a team, the Mountain Lions shot 46.7 percent (21-for-45) from the field and 47.1 percent (8-for-17) from long range while holding the Hardrockers to only 38.6 percent (22-for-57) from the field and 18.8 percent (3-for-16) from behind the arc.

BEYOND THE BOX SCORE

• Tonight's win marked the 200^th in the career of UCCS head coach Jeff Culver. In 13 seasons at the helm of the Mountain Lion men's basketball team, Culver holds a 200-157 overall record for a .560 winning percentage.

UP NEXT

• The Mountain Lions will return to action on Saturday, Feb. 8 when they head to Spearfish, S.D. for a 3 p.m. tip-off against Black Hills State inside the Donald E. Young Center.

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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.
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