LAKEWOOD, CO – Producing nearly their best scoring output of the season; it was not enough as the Cougars fell in their RMAC home opener.

Despite rallying from a 15-point deficit, Colorado Christian could not hold a second half lead as the dropped an 86-78 contest to Colorado School of Mines.

HOW IT HAPPENED: The visitors started the game on a 13-4 spurt and quickly increased that lead to double figures (25-10) with just over 11 minutes left in the opening stanza. Colorado Christian clipped their deficit down to 33-27 with 5:26 left after Jake Hornick finished a three-point play at the foul line. 

During the last moments of the frame, Colorado School of Mines pushed their lead back to double digits before eventually taking a 46-34 advantage into the locker room. The Orediggers shot 59.4 percent (19-for-32) from the floor during the opening 20 minutes.

Colorado Christian owned the opening minutes of the next stanza. The Cougars made eight of their first 10 field goal attempts as they pulled within 55-54 with 14:31 remaining. A Hornick three-pointer from the corner gave the Cougars their first lead at 59-57 with 12 minutes left. Momentum continued in the Cougars favor when Aiden Cantwell and Hornick converted back-to-back three-point plays to give the Cougars a 68-63 lead with 9:50 left. At that point in the half, the Cougars were shooting 70 percent (14-for-20) from the floor.

The Orediggers responded with a 10-0 scoring spree as they made a five-point deficit into a five-point lead with 5:42 to play. They would not trail the rest of the contest. Colorado Christian's strong shooting effort went cool as they converted three of their final nine shot attempts.

COUGAR LEADERS: Jake Hornick scored a team high 22 points while Justin Engesser tallied 18 points while grabbing a Cougar best eight rebounds. Spencer Hoffman had a quality evening as the sophomore notched a 17-point performance. Aidan Cantwell rounded out the double figure scorers for the home team with 11 points.  

INSIDE THE BOXSCORE:

• Colorado Christian had just two turnovers in the second half
• Both team made eight three-pointer and 10 shots from the foul line
• The Cougars season high in points is 80 against Simon Fraser

UP NEXT: The Cougars complete their home opening RMAC weekend with a Saturday contest against UCCS. Game time is set for 7:00 p.m.