Photo Courtesy Ryan Pfeifer / UNC Athletics

GREELEY, CO – Though the scoreboard doesn't ultimately matter in the win/loss column during an exhibition, effort does.

As the Cougars men's basketball squad continues to grow and adapt to their new culture, they battled NCAA Division I foe Northern Colorado on Wednesday evening. Their opponents from the Big Sky conference posted an 87-62 victory as Colorado Christian played an NCAA Division I foe for the 13th straight season.  

HOW IT HAPPENED: The contested started ominously as the home team raced to a 20-10 lead just over seven minutes after tip-off. The gutsy nature of the Cougars began to emerge as they slowly chipped away at their deficit. Aidan Cantwell nailed a three-pointer from the right side to cap off an 8-0 scoring spurt which gave Colorado Christian a 28-27 edge with 6:08 remaining until halftime.

Down the stretch in the first stanza the basket seemingly had a lid on it as the Cougars rimmed out a handful of shots. Northern Colorado scored the last nine points of the half as they took a 39-31 lead into the locker room.

As the second half began the Northern Colorado shots continued to fall from all angles as the proverbial lid stayed on the basket for the Cougars. Despite not finding the bottom of the net in the early moments, down the stretch they found their rhythm as they hit five of seven shots in one four-minute stretch. The Bears hovered around a 65 percent shooting percentage in the last stanza to aid in their victory.

COUGAR LEADERS: Ross Williams scored a team best 22 points as he nailed nine of his 17 field goal attempts in 31 minutes on the floor. Andy Stafford registered a double figure effort by scoring 17 points while grabbing a team best 11 rebounds.

UP NEXT: The Cougars are on track to start their home schedule on Saturday against Fort Lewis. Tip-off will be at 5:00 p.m. inside the CCU Event Center.