ALAMOSA, CO- The Colorado Christian men's basketball team kicked off 2022 with a thriller on the road at Adams State University. Trailing at half, the Cougars clawed their way back into the game and forced overtime, ultimately falling 80-73 to the Grizzlies.

HOW IT HAPPENED- The Cougars got off to a fast start as DJ McDonald drilled an early three followed by a layup from Isaiah Alonzo to pull ahead 5-0. Andy Stafford and Christian St. Germain converted layups to keep the scoring going as the two teams battled back and forth. 

Jason Gallant and Stafford pushed their team ahead with back-to-back three-pointers as the Cougars pulled ahead by five. The Grizzlies responded, going on a run to close the half and take a 37-28 lead to the break. 

Adams State got off to a strong start in the second half, quickly pulling ahead by 14. They stretched the lead to as much as 17 with 14:26 to go. Then the Cougars began to mount their comeback. Alonzo got fouled in the paint several times and converted two trips to the free throw line to bring his team closer.

A Stafford and Alonzo layup followed by a three from Darius Henderson closed the gap to eight. Shaylen Woodberry hit a big three to tighten the gap to seven, and McDonald and Henderson converted layups to make it a three point game with a little over four minutes to play. The Cougars trailed by seven with 2:14 remaining, but they refused to go down. Ross Williams got a layup to go and Henderson drilled a pair of free throws to close the gap to three. McDonald then nailed a shot from deep with 47 seconds and regulation ended with the score tied at 66.

The two teams traded baskets to begin the overtime period as Stafford put in a layup. The Grizzlies got on a run and stretched the lead to nine before a three from McDonald closed the gap to six. The offense for Adams State was too much in overtime as they took home an 80-73 victory. 

COUGARS LEADERS:
Isaiah Alonzo led the Cougars with 16 points and eight rebounds. DJ McDonald poured in 14 points while Darius Henderson and Alonzo dished out three assists apiece. 

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE:

• The Cougars outscored Adams State in second chance points 16-8

• Colorado Christian's bench put up 23 points to the Grizzlies' 18

• The lead changed five times and there were four ties in the contest