Colorado Christian dropped their third game of this early season, falling 62-54 on the road at Western Oregon Saturday night.
 
After picking up their first win Friday, Christian suffered a setback against the Wolves, struggling in the same areas that had plagued them in their first two losses. Poor shooting and turnovers hurt the Cougars once again, leading to a 12-point halftime deficit after scoring just 21 points.
 
Michael Brown and Tyler Shields led the Cougars with 17 and 11 points, respectively, but no other Cougar scored more than six on the night. CCU shot just 38% from the field and turned the ball over to Western Oregon 22 times, leading to 20 points for the host Wolves. Capitalizing on the other's mistakes was a key factor in this game. While CCU forced WOU into 17 turnovers of their own, the Cougars managed just nine points going the other way.

"We have to take care of the ball better and that process starts with me as the coach, putting them in positions to be successful," stated Head Coach Kevin Lubbers.
 
Western Oregon also asserted its authority down low, out-rebounding CCU 34-31 and scoring 32 points in the paint, 20 more than Christian would total.
 
While they were not at the top of their game, Christian didn't go away. CCU chipped away at the Wolves' advantage, cutting the host's lead to a single point after a Michael Brown jumper with 5:37 remaining, but it would be as close as the Cougars would get.
 
A 14-4 run over the final minutes by Western Oregon sealed the game and sent the Cougars to 1-3 to start the 2014-15 season.

"This weekend we took great strides forward on the defensive end," commented Lubbers. "We have a lot of room to grow offensively as a group yet, and will look to do that this week."

After splitting a pair of games in Oregon, CCU returns to Colorado for another exhibition, facing Northern Colorado on Monday at 7 PM in Greeley before their first home test against Johnson & Wales (Denver) Friday the 28th.