If ever there was a tale of two halves, Friday night's contest at Western Oregon was it. Playing a tournament game against St. Martin's University, Colorado Christian Basketball labored their way through a dismal first period before igniting in the second half on their way to a 63-53 win.
 
Indeed, it was a chilly first 20 minutes for the CCU offense. Though they had their looks, the Cougars managed a lowly four makes from the field in an 18% shooting effort. Down 33-14 at the break, Christian was in need of some serious fine-tuning.
 
Fortunately, a different team emerged from the half-time locker room. Re-energized on both sides of the ball, the Cougars made maintaining a lead difficult for the Saints. Little by little, Colorado Christian changed the tone of the contest, using timely stops and momentum-generating buckets to gain a foothold of their own.
 
Propelled by generous bench contributions, CCU reversed their first-period fortunes. A 60% clip meant for 49 points in the second, 21 of them coming from beyond the arc.
 
"Our bench was excellent today," commented Head Coach Kevin Lubbers on the 29-point contribution from the bench. "This was a team win in every sense of the word."
 
With 11:49 left on the clock, St. Martin's still held a daunting 14-point lead. Fortunately, a Michael Brown trey at 11:32 followed by a pair of SMU turnovers marked a notable turning point in the game. The blue and gold would jump on the opportunity, attacking the Saints on both sides of the ball. The result was a 29-7 Christian run and five SMU turnovers in the final nine minutes.
 
"This was one of the best overall defensive efforts we have had in a long time. We are still finding our identity as a team, but I think we made progress towards that tonight."
 
Brown finished the contest with a season-high 25 points after draining five shots from deep. The senior guard also led all players with an eight-for-ten effort from the line.
 
The Cougars also won the battle on the glass, collecting 38 boards thanks to contributions from an impressive 11 CCU players (all but one pulled down a board). Tyler Shields led the effort, totaling seven rebounds – four of them offensive.
 
Colorado Christian will remain in Monmouth overnight, and will return to the WOU campus Saturday to take on the host Wolves. Game time is slated for 7pm.