LAKEWOOD, CO – Five days ago Tuesday nights overcome would have been a bit unthinkable. The resilient Cougars would not have that type of thinking.
Colorado Christian overcame a slow start to post a 78-69 victory against UCCS to avenge a 25-point loss they suffered against the Mountain Lions on Thursday.
HOW IT HAPPENED: The early minutes saw UCCS make nearly every shot they raced out to a 17-4 lead. The Cougars started to chip away at that deficit. With just over six minutes left in the half, a DJ McDonald lay-up tied the score at 25-25 then Colorado Christian took the lead on their next possession with a Ross Williams lay-in. The final moments allowed the visitors to nudge ahead as they went into the locker room with a 35-33 advantage.
UCCS went up seven points as the early stages of the second half unfolded, but a strong response from the Cougars quickly turned the stanza in their favor. When McDonald nailed a three-pointer at the top of key, it concluded a 16-4 scoring spurt as Colorado Christian went ahead 53-48 with 12:40 left. The home team never trailed again.
The Colorado Christian offense continued its second half onslaught as they pushed their lead to 67-56 with 7:25 remaining in the contest. At that point in the second half, the home team missed just three of their 17 field goal attempts in building their 11-point edge.
The Mountain Lions pushed back as they dwindled their deficit down to 67-64 with under three minutes on the scoreboard. However, the game was all but put away when Andy Stafford hit a turnaround jumper and Justin Engesser swished a three-pointer on back-to-back possessions with just about a minute remaining.
QUOTEABLE: "We had a bit of a chip on our shoulders and we wanted to compete harder than we did last week against UCCS. We wanted to play a total 40 minutes and we did that tonight. Even being down early, we knew we could come back. We just went out there and focused on one play at a time.
"It feels great to get the win. We almost forgot what it feels like and to get it, is great. This will be great momentum heading into our final two games," Stafford said.
COUGAR LEADERS: Stafford scored 14 of his team high 19 points in the second half while also grabbing a team high eight rebounds. Williams posted 18 points in 31 minutes while McDonald (17) and Engesser (11) rounded out the double figure scorers for the home team. Engesser also dished out a team best five assists.
INSIDE THE BOXSCORE
- Colorado Christian outscored UCCS in the paint 28-26
- The home team hit half of their 12 three-point attempts in the second half
- The Cougars have won three straight at home vs. UCCS
UP NEXT: The Cougars complete their campaign with a pair of games this weekend. It begins with Senior Night on Friday against Black Hills State with tip-off set for 7 p.m.
