DENVER – A quick start didn't translate to what the Cougars wanted on the scoreboard.

Despite a quality shooting start to the contest, Colorado Christian fell to MSU Denver 78-62 on Tuesday evening.

HOW IT HAPPENED: Four possessions into the contest the Cougars made three of their first four shots and held an 8-0 lead. The strong shooting continued as the home team pushed to even the score. Down 25-24, the Roadrunners quickly turned that one-point deficit into a 10-point lead, 38-28, as Colorado Christian hit a cold stretch.

During the final five-plus minutes of the opening stanza, the teams combined to make five of their final 16 shots. MSU Denver hit three of the last four shots to aid in their 44-33 edge at intermission.

Unfortunately for the Cougars a quick second half start was not in the offering. MSU Denver built their lead to 55-33 as the Colorado Christian offensive couldn't find the bottom of the net on their first eight attempts.

Colorado Christian fought and got their deficit down 13 points (59-46) with 11:20 left in the contest but couldn't quite string together a spurt to get down to a single digit discrepancy.

COUGAR LEADERS: Andy Stafford scored a team best 19 points while playing all but one minute of the game. Ross Williams fell just short of his second straight double with a 17-point, nine-rebound effort.

INSIDE THE BOXSCORE

• The Cougars hit at least 10 three-pointers for the fourth straight contest
• Colorado Christian went 12-for-34 behind the arc and 8-for-22 inside the three-point line
• The contest featured just 16 total foul shots with Colorado Christian going 10-for-12

UP NEXT: The Cougars close out the 2020 portion of their schedule with a Saturday contest against South Dakota Mines. Tip-off at the CCU Event Center is slated for 4:00 p.m.