Colorado Christian took to the floor on Friday night looking for their 10^th win of the season in front of a near capacity home crowd, as they faced off against Black Hills State University. The Cougars used a strong second half performance to earn the victory by a final score of 72-68. After going down early, the Cougars outscored the Yellow Jackets by ten in the second half to secure the four point win.
 
The first half started rough for the Christian squad as they saw the Yellow Jackets build an early lead as they were able to connect on several shots from beyond the three point line. Ten minutes into the game, the offense was struggling as Black Hills was leading 18-8. CCU finally broke into double digits with a layup by Ty McGee with 9:45 left in the first half, which brought the Yellow Jackets lead down to just eight. BHSU continued to hit from three, and with 2:20 left in the first they were able to build their lead up to 14 points by a score of 34-20. Colorado Christian dominated the final two minutes of the half and were able to finish on a 10-2 run and cut their deficit down to just six points heading into the break 36-30.
 
Wayne McCullough was a one man wrecking crew in the first half as he put the team on his back and kept them in the game. He finished the half with 16 points while hitting 5-6 from the floor including 4-5 from downtown. Jacob Taylor also had a good first half coming off the bench, as he went perfect from the field hitting all three of his shots for a total of six points and also grabbed three rebounds.
 
Both teams fought hard for the first five minutes of the second half, but CCU was able to eliminate the lead and tie the game 43-43 after Jeremiah Hanson nailed a three pointer. The Cougars were able to come up with a defensive stand on the next Yellow Jackets possession and then a layup by Zach McLemore with 14:35 remaining gave Colorado Christian their first lead of the game 45-43. They continued to apply the pressure and kept adding to their newly acquired lead. With 4:10 remaining, Dominique Josephs connected on a hook shot which gave CCU a ten point lead 65-55. Back to back three pointers from the Yellow Jackets tightened things up as it cut the lead down to just four with 2:42 remaining in the game. Another three from BHSU with 1:30 left made it a one possession game as the lead was down to only two 70-68. A missed shot by the Cougars gave the Yellow Jackets the ball with 14 seconds left and a chance to tie or take the lead. The Cougar defense stiffened and forced a missed shot which gave them possession with 3.8 seconds left. After controlling the inbounds pass, BHSU fouled Wayne McCullough to send him to the line with a chance to ice the game. He made both attempts from the line to put the game out of reach. The final score ended up 72-68 in favor of Colorado Christian.
 
CCU finished the second half shooting a sizzling 65% (17-26) from the floor, and 50% (5-10) from beyond the arc, which boosted their overall game numbers to 57% (27-47) shooting, and 48% (10-21) from three. With 2:20 left in the first, CCU trailed 34-20, but from that point on, they outscored the Yellow Jackets by a score of 52-34. It was a balanced offensive attack in the second, as five Cougars finished the half with at least six points.
 
Offensively, Wayne McCullough was the star of the night as he finished with a game high 27 points on 8-11 shooting, and hit 6-8 from three point land. Ty McGee was the only other Cougar in double figures as he had ten points, and also led the team in assists with nine.
 
Coach Kevin Lubbers spoke about his team's performance after the game, "Tonight was a great team win. We had several key plays by different people throughout the night. We got off to a slow start, but responded well, and stayed consistent on the defensive end throughout the game. We really appreciate the great crowd support tonight as well. We will need it again tomorrow night also!
 
With the win, the Colorado Christian record improves to 10-10 overall, and 6-8 in conference play. It marks the third straight win for the team. They will be back in action Saturday night as they take on South Dakota School of Mines at the CCU Event Center in Lakewood, CO. Tip is scheduled for 7PM MST.
 
DNL