Colorado Christian took to the hardwood Saturday night as they opened up conference play by taking on Colorado School of Mines. The Cougars made it close in the end, but were unable to complete the comeback and lost by a final score of 79-73. The Cougars were outplayed in the first half, but made the proper adjustments at halftime and came out in the second half on a mission.
 
It was a shaky start for CCU, as Mines took control of the game early on in the first half. The Cougars struggled shooting the ball in the first as the strong Mines defense held them to shooting just 33% from the floor. CSM took advantage of their bigger bodies as they scored 22 of their 35 first half points from inside the paint.
 
CCU made changes to the game plan at halftime, and was able to come out and fight their way back into the game. They spread the floor with a smaller lineup, which helped neutralize the size advantage that Mines enjoyed in the first half. The Cougars improved their shooting in the second half as well as they knocked down 5-12 from behind the three point line. With just over four minutes remaining in the game, Colorado Christian had pulled the game to within striking distance as they cut the deficit down to just six points. However Mines was able to keep their lead thanks in part to their efforts on the free-throw line as they hit 13-16 in the second half which gave them just enough to hold on for the six point victory.
 
Ty McGee led all scorers on the night as he finished the game with 26 points. McGee filled the stat sheet all night as he also had 16 rebounds, four assists, two blocks and two steals. Zach McLemore was the only other Cougar in double figures for points as he added 18 to the cause.
 
The loss drops their record to 4-3 on the year and 0-1 in conference play. They will be back in action next Friday night as they travel to Alamosa, CO to take on Adams State University. Tip is scheduled for 7:30PM MST.  


DNL