LAKEWOOD, CO – For every punch, their almost always is a counter punch. Unfortunately for the Cougars they ran out of time to keep counter punching.
MSU Denver kept Colorado Christian in just enough of a deficit throughout the game to tally a 77-71 victory on Saturday evening.
THE DIFFERENCE: MSU Denver was effective from behind the arc as they hit 15 of their 35 shots from deep (42.9 percent). While Colorado Christian hit more field goals than the Roadrunners (25-to-23), the visitors nailed eight more three-pointers than the Cougars.
HOW IT HAPPENED: While the Roadrunners didn't trail in the game the Colorado Christian shooting attack kept the game close.
With 4:26 left in the first half a Spencer Hoffman dunk tied the game at 20-20 but MSU Denver scored 11 of the next 14 points to close out the frame. The visitors took a 31-23 lead into the locker room.
MSU Denver kept that momentum going early in the second half as they took a 39-27 lead. However, the Colorado Christian responded with a 14-3 scoring spurt to pull within a point (42-41) just before the halfway point of the period.
Colorado Christian was able to get their deficit down to a single point again just a few possessions later but couldn't break through and take the lead. None the less the Cougars continued to battle and stayed with a possession or two of the lead until another MSU Denver run pushed their lead to 66-53 with 3:59 remaining.
A final scoring run from the home team brought their deficit down to a single possession twice in the last minute. However, MSU Denver went 4-for-6 from the charity stripe to keep their lead and grab the win.
INSIDE THE BOXSCORE
- Jeremiah Hanson scored a team high 22 points (8-for-14) while also tallying a game high eight rebounds
- Colorado Christian committed a season low 10 turnovers
- For the second straight game the Cougars hit at least 50 percent of their field goal attempts
UP NEXT: The Cougars have the next seven days off before concluding conference play prior to the Christmas break. Colorado Christian travels to Colorado School of Mines on Saturday, Dec. 15 for a 5 p.m. game with the Orediggers.
