Photo Courtesy of Vince Smith / CMU Athletics
SALT LAKE CITY – Despite inching into the school record books, the Cougars didn't grab a win but they showed its ability.
The Colorado Christian men's basketball had a quality performance shooting from behind the arc but dropped a 79-71 decision to Westminster on Saturday evening.
Shooting at will from three-point land, the Cougars made 16 shots from distance on 39 attempts. The 16 makes is tied for the third most in school history while the 39 tries are the most in at least the last 10 years for a Colorado Christian team. Moreover, the 16 made treys were the most in the program since they made 17 against Regis during the 2017-18 season.
HOW IT HAPPENED: The Cougars, despite being down 15-7 just over five minutes into the game battled back from an eight-point deficit. And it happened quickly. Colorado Christian made five three pointers in just over four minutes to take a 24-19 edge and force Westminster into a timeout.
The home team responded to take a 39-31 advantage with just 4:15 left until intermission. The momentum swings continued as the Cougars responded with an 11-2 scoring spurt to take a 42-41 lead after the initial 20 minutes. In the first stanza, Colorado Christian went 11-for-22 from behind the arc as six different players made at least one three-pointer.
The game of back-and-forth continued in the second half as Westminster went ahead 52-44 less than six minutes into the final half. The undeterred Cougars retook the lead when Ross Williams hit a three-pointer with 9:21 remaining to push Colorado Christian back in front 61-60.
However, Westminster started to assert itself as they built a seven-point lead (70-63) with 5:44 left until the final horn. The Cougars battled back and got within three pointers on an Andy Stafford lay-up with 3:53 left but they could not pull any closer.
COUGAR LEADERS: In just his second game with the program, Williams scored a team best 24 points on 8-for-17 shooting. The Detroit native made six of his 13 attempts from distance. Stafford scored in double figures for the straight game with an 18-point effort. Another newcomer, Christian St. Germain, rounded out the double figure scorers with 12.
INSIDE THE BOXSCORE
- 67 percent of the Cougars points came from their three-point shooting
- St. Germain made his first three shots from behind the arc
- There were only 13 total turnovers in the contest
- A total of 28 lead changes occurred
UP NEXT: The Cougars are scheduled to open the home portion of their schedule with a 5:00 p.m. contest against Fort Lewis on Saturday, Dec. 12 at the CCU Event Center.
