Colorado Christian vs. Northern Colorado
Wednesday, Dec. 9 | 6:30 p.m.
Greeley, Colo. (Colorado Bank Arena)
No Fans Allowed

• Colorado Christian won three of the first four in the series that began during the 1993-94 season. Northern Colorado has won four straight. 
• The squads met for an exhibition game on Oct. 30, 2018 with the Bears winning 92-58.
• The game will serve as an exhibition game for Colorado Christian. It is the first official game of the 2020-21 season for the Bears.

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Colorado Christian vs. Fort Lewis
Friday, Dec. 12 | 5:00 p.m.
Lakewood, Colo. (CCU Event Center)
No Fans Allowed

• Fort Lewis leads the all-time series 30-14 with the first meeting during the 1988-89 season
• Colorado Christian has won six of the 13 all-time meetings in Lakewood including a 92-87 win last season
• Of the previous 10 meetings, Fort Lewis has seven wins

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From Way Down Town

In their first two games last weekend, the Cougars shot 77 three pointers. Against Westminster they made 16 from behind the arc which is the third most in school history. In that contest, they attempted 40 which is the most in at least the last 10 seasons for a Colorado Christian program. Ross Williams leads the team with 10 three-pointers and 21 attempts (47.6 percent). 

The Cougars are making 13 three-pointers per game which leads the RMAC during the early going of this season.

Closing In On 1,000 Points

Justin Engesser, the squads only four-year member, enters the season needed 173 points to become the school's 11th person to reach 1,000 for his career. Last season he earned RMAC Honorable Mention accolades after being among the league leaders in a handful of offensive categories including scoring (11.9 ppg), three-pointers made (62) and minutes played (34.2 mpg). He has started 56 consecutive games heading into the campaign.

Transfer Times Four

The Cougars welcome four players to the squad with previous collegiate experience. Ross Williams has two years of eligibility remaining after transferring from Menlo College (CA) where he earned NAIA All-American honors.  Andy Stafford played-in 22 games at Southwest Minnesota State with five starts as a freshman last season. The Hopkins, MN resident scored in double figures in seven games while at the NCAA Division II school in 2019-20. 

Two other transfers will garner minutes as they adapt to Simmons and his system. Jaxon Hinch played one season at Miles City Community College; playing 31 games while averaging just under five points a contest. Christian St. Germain was a two-year member of the Wheaton College (IL) program before joining the Cougars. St. Germain was apart of a Thunder squad that reached the NCAA Division III Final Four.

Steady Starter

Aidan Cantwell returns for his second season with the program, and fourth college season (previously Sierra College). He started all 30 games since joining the program. He was third on the team in three-pointers made (31) and three-point shooting percentage (.392) during 2019-20. Of his 230 total points scored last season, just over 40 percent of those points came from shots behind the arc.

Head Coach - Liam Simmons

The Colorado Christian athletics department is pleased to announce the hiring of Liam Simmons as its ninth men's basketball head coach in program history. The 2020-21 campaign will be his first at Colorado Christian.

The Australian-born Simmons has most recently served as the head coach of the Franklin Bulls in New Zealand's National Basketball League. Simmons joins the Cougars staff with a wealth of knowledge and passion for the game.

During the 2018-2019 season Simmons stepped away from college basketball to focus his effort and energy on enhancing the skills of individual players at the NBA and professional level. As a skill development coach, Simmons based himself in Philadelphia and worked with several players, but dedicated his time and focus to specifically working parallel with the Philadelphia 76ers staff, supporting their coaches in the development of All-Star Ben Simmons.

Simmons has NCAA coaching experience at the Division I and II levels. In 2018 Simmons enjoyed an opportunity to work at University of California Riverside under fellow Australian, and mentor, head coach David Patrick. He also gained collegiate coaching experience at Southwest Baptist (MO) under head coach Clark Sheehy. Simmons spent four seasons (2014-2018) with the NCAA Division II school, earning a promotion in the final two seasons as the program's associate head coach. Before his four seasons with the Bearcats, he was an assistant coach at Nichols State (LA) during the 2013-14 campaign under head coach J.P. Piper.

He earned a Bachelor's of Science degree in Kinesiology in 2007 from San Diego Christian. Simmons also has a Master Degree in Education from Australian Catholic University in Melbourne (2008). 

Ground Rules

In late November, the RMAC released information about the season structure and return-to-play guidelines for basketball. All teams will have a 22-game conference schedule (non-conference play being optional), and any game that is not played due to COVID-19 issues will be declared a "no contest." All student-athletes and team support staff must test negative within 72 hours of the game, and in the state of Colorado, everyone in the arena will wear a mask except for the 10 active players on the court. An RMAC champion will be declared if at least five teams complete 50 percent of their originally approved schedule (11 games). The champion and RMAC Tournament qualifiers will be determined by use of the NCAA Division II RPI system.