Colorado Christian took to the court on Friday night as they had a conference battle with Western State Colorado University. CCU led the majority of the game, but the Mountaineers took the lead with seconds remaining, and held on to defeat the Cougs by a final score of 92-90.
 
The Cougars opened up the game shooting well, especially from behind the three point line as they were able to take an early lead over the Mountaineers. Five minutes into the first, the Cougs held onto a slim 14-11 lead. Western State remained in the game thanks to their efforts on the offensive glass. They grabbed five offensive rebounds in the first half, which afforded them extra chances to cut into the Christian lead. It remained a back and forth battle for the rest of the first half, but CCU was still in control as they had a 48-43 lead heading into the break.
 
The Cougs held onto their hot hand throughout the first, as they shot 63% (19-30) from the floor, compared to just 48% (19-39) from Western. CCU gained their advantage from deep, as they were nearly perfect shooting 9-11 from beyond the arc including 4-5 from Brett Brady, and a perfect 3-3 from Jeremiah Hanson off the bench.
 
Brett Brady finished the first half as the leading scorer as he tallied 18 points by shooting 7-8 from the floor and hitting 4-5 from downtown. Both Dimitri Saliba and Jeremiah Hanson finished the half with nine points. Ty McGee led the team with five rebounds, and Jacob Taylor had four assists.
 
As the second half began, the Cougars began to rev up the intensity. Five minute in, they had pushed their lead into double digits at 65-54, and had the Mountaineers on the ropes. Western attempted to shoot themselves back in the game, and with just over eight minutes left a made three cut the Cougar lead back down to 8 at 80-72. WSCU continued to inch their way back, and with just under four minutes remaining the Cougs lead was trimmed down to just two. Ty Mcgee hit two three pointers down the stretch, but Western matched it on their end which kept the game tight. The Mountaineers hit a three with 40 seconds left, which put the score 89-88. On the ensuing Cougar possession, a missed layup, followed by a foul, sent Western State to the line with a chance to take the lead with 12 seconds left. WSCU made both free throws and took their first lead since early in the first half. CCU was whistled for a charging foul, which gave possession back to Western with six seconds left and forced the Cougs to foul for a chance to get the ball back. Western made both free throws. Down by three with five seconds left, Western made a smart basketball play by fouling and not allowing the Cougars to take a shot at tying the game from three. Ty McGee hit 1-2 from the line, but Western was able to run out the remaining final seconds to hand the Cougars the loss by a final score of 92-90.
 
 The scoring attack for the Cougars took a hit in the second half, as Brett Brady and Dimitri Saliba both spent significant portions of time on the bench with four fouls. Both Brady and Saliba fouled out late in the game, which took a toll on the CCU offense.
 
Brett Brady finished with a team high 23 points, but was limited to just five points in the second half. Ty McGee had a solid all-around game as he tallied 20 points, while also leading the team in rebounds with seven, and assists with six. Dimitri Saliba finished with 19 points, and also had one block and one steal in the game. Jeremiah Hanson finished with 11 points, and Jacob Taylor had 10.
 
The Cougars are now 10-6 overall on the year, and 7-3 in conference play. They will be back in action tomorrow night as they face off against Colorado Mesa at the CCU Event Center in Lakewood. Tip is scheduled for 7PM MST.