The Colorado Christian Cougars Men's Basketball team hosted the Black Hills State University Yellowjackets in Lakewood, CO, on Saturday, December 9^th, still in search of their first conference victory. The Yellowjackets entered the night 4-3 overall and 1-2 in RMAC play.
 
The first half was very even for the majority of the time, with each team leading at some point, but after the Cougars took an 18-14 lead just eight minutes in, the Yellowjackets would go on a monstrous 17-2 run to claim an 11-point lead. The Cougars would work their way back to within six points to go into halftime trailing 34-40.
 
Leading scorer for the Cougars Stefan Hackethal found himself in early foul trouble and was forced to watch from the sidelines for most of the first half. Filling in the scoring void while Hackethal was out were Isaiah Hanson and Jeremiah Hanson who contributed 13 and 11 points respectively. The difference in the score can be attributed to the five blocks the Yellowjackets earned in the first half.
 
The second half was a battle from wire to wire. The Cougars clawed their way back into the lead after things started to get a little chippy on the court and the Cougars were rewarded with two free throws and the ball after a Yellowjacket technical foul. The inbound ball resulted in a Cougar 3-pointer but still trailed by one, 47-48. Three more free throws by Isaiah Hanson would remedy that and would start roll for CCU that would ultimately put them up by a score of 64-74 after an easy drop-step jam by sophomore Marcus Fager.
 
Despite a few nerve racking moments when the Yellowjackets began to full court press with some success, the Cougars were in full control, thanks in large part to Marcus Fager scoring 16 of his 17 points in the second half, rocketing the Cougars to their first conference win of the season.
 
Also coming up huge for the Cougars tonight were Isaiah and Jeremiah Hanson. Isaiah scored a game high 22 points on 7 of 11 shooting. Jeremiah notched a double-double with 21 points and 10 rebounds. As a team, the Cougars had an incredible shooting night, hitting 52.5% of their field goals, which was a season high, and 52.6% of their three-pointers.
 
The Cougars will return next week on Saturday, December 16^th, when they take on the Mountain Lions of UCCS. Tip-off is scheduled for 3:00 p.m.