Colorado Christian vs. South Dakota Mines
Saturday, Feb. 13 | 4:00 p.m.
Rapid City, S.D. (King Center)

• This is just the second trip to Rapid City for the Cougars; the previous two games were both 13-point loses
• Colorado Christian's lone win in the seven games between the schools, game during the first meeting during 2015-16 season (82-68)
• Earlier this season, the Hardrockers posted a 74-57 win at the CCU Event Center

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Colorado Christian vs. Black Hills State
Sunday, Feb. 14 | 5:00 p.m.
Spearfish, S.D. (Donald E. Young Center)

• Colorado Christian leads the all-time series 9-4; including a 4-2 record in Spearfish
• Dating back to the 2015-16 season, the Cougars have won five of the last seven

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On the Road Again ...

The Cougars are playing their first road games since a Jan. 9 trip to Western Colorado. A span of 35 days before they play the Hardrockers on Saturday. 

D.J. Plays The Scoring Hits

Since joining the squad at the start of the spring semester, D.J. McDonald has provided quite a scoring punch. The transfer from UC Riverside, is third on the team in scoring (15.2 ppg) while playing just over 33 minutes per contest. He has scored in double figures in four of the six games since donning a Cougars uniform. He scored a career high 24 points vs. Western then on Tuesday night against MSU Denver registered a 22-point effort.

Nationally Ranked Shooting 

The Cougars are on a three-point shooting mission. As a team they have made 12.3 shots per game from behind the arc which is the most in the nation. They lead the RMAC with 152 total three-pointers made which is 41 more than Western Colorado who is second in the league.

Closing In on 1,000 Points

Justin Engesser has been a main stay in the starting line-up. The senior has started every game since his sophomore year (66straight). He is closing in on 1,000 career points scored and needs just 69 more points this season to become the 11th players to hit the milestone. Currently he is fourth on the team in scoring (10.8 ppg) and is second on the squad in rebounding (6.1 rpg) while leading in steals (1.2 spg). 

Player of the Week Times Two

Ross Williams has been named the RMAC Offensive Player of the Week on two occasions this season. He is the only player to earn the honor twice.

In mid-December he won the accolade after putting up 28 points, 17 rebounds and five assists in an 84-79 win vs. Fort Lewis (Dec. 12). The 17 rebounds is the second best single game effort in the RMAC this season. 

The opening weekend of 2021 he scored a total of 66 points in two games. He opened the weekend with 35 points against CSU Pueblo (Jan. 2) then followed that effort with a 31-point performance vs. Adams State (Jan. 3). In the game against CSU Pueblo he made 14 field goal attempts which was the fifth most in school history.

He is eighth the nation in three-pointers made (45) while ranking second in three-pointers per game (4.30 3fg/game). He is 21st in the country, and second in the RMAC, in scoring (22.7 ppg). He has made 45 of his 97 three point shots (43.7 percent); also a conference best mark.

Stafford Fitting in Nicely

Andy Stafford has slide into the starting line-up since transferring from SW Minnesota State. While scoring 17.6 points per game the sophomore has every game and is averaging 36.3 minutes per game; the second most on the squad. He is tied for third in the RMAC in three-pointers made (35). 

Welcome to CCU

When the calendar flipped to 2021, the Cougars welcomed five newcomers to the squad. The group of five comes from a wide-range of areas with three players hailing from the southern Pacific, then a pair of transfers from California and Tennessee respectively.

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.