Lakewood, CO - The Cougars were looking to bounce back at home on Saturday night after a close loss last night to UCCS on the road. Regis was scheduled to play Chadron State last night as well, but inclement weather postponed that game until January 2^nd. The Rangers came into the game with a 4-6 record overall, and 1-3 in conference play. CCU is heading into the game with a 6-5 record overall and are 2-3 in conference play. In a game that was filled with significant runs by each team, the down to the wire battle ended in favor of Regis, as they held on for the victory by one point with the final score 80-81.
 
Colorado Christian got off to a good start in the game especially on the defensive end of things. They held the Rangers without a made basket for the opening two minutes of the game, and during that time they were able to build up a 6-2 lead thanks to a pair of three pointers from the hands of DJ McDonald who started the game on fire. Regis answered back with a 7-0 run of their own to overtake the lead from the Cougs, which began a back and forth battle which continued throughout the rest of the first half. Each team would gain the lead and begin to pull away, before the other team eventually fought back and kept it close.
 
A made three by Jason Gallant with just under 10 minutes left in the half tied things up 22-22, and just a minute later Gallant drained a pair of free throws to give CCU the edge once again 26-25 with nine minutes remaining in the first half. From that point, Regis started to heat up from the field as they went on a 15-6 run over the course of the next six minutes. They hit 4-7 shots from the field including 1-1 from beyond the arc and also hit 6-7 from the charity stripe to give them the biggest lead of the first half 40-32 with 2:30 remaining. The teams continued to exchange buckets as the clock ran down to end the first half and send CCU into the break trailing by six as the score was 40-46.
 
Both teams had a strong start to the game offensively as each shot over 50% from the field during the first 20 minutes of play. Both teams put on a show from beyond the three point line as Regis shot 4-6 (66%), while the Cougars were also an impressive 8-16 (50%). One of the biggest differences that led to the deficit in the first half was with the frequency that Regis was able to get to, and convert from the free throw line. In the first half, the Rangers shot 18 free throws, and made 16 of them for an 89% mark from the line. Colorado Christian was looking to limit these opportunities for Regis in the second half in hopes of producing the comeback.
 
DJ McDonald led all scorers in the first half as he was a weapon from three going 5-8 from beyond the arc to finish the half with 15 points. Noah Kon and Jason Gallant also had strong halves as Kon finished with nine points, while Gallant had seven.
 
The Cougars wasted little time in getting comfortable in the second half as they were hitting everything in the opening minutes. They went on a 15-5 run to open the half which quickly erased their deficit and ultimately gave them the 55-51 lead five minutes into the action. The Rangers refused to go away quietly as they answered back by rattling off a 9-0 run to steal the lead back 60-55 to continue the back and forth battle. With seven minutes remaining, Maro Egodotaye made a pair of free throws to cut their deficit down to four as the Cougars trailed 62-66 to Regis.
 
Once again the Rangers mounted a rally and scored 10 unanswered points to push their lead into double digits as the score sat at 76-62 with four minutes left in the game, but the Cougs refused to let down especially Jason Gallant. Gallant went off over the next three minutes as the Cougars defense tightened things up. Gallant scored 10 straight points without Regis answering, which brought the game back to a four point game with just 42 seconds left. Once again, it came down to free throws from the Rangers side of things as the final minute the Cougs were forced to foul in order to conserve time.
 
The Rangers first attempt at the line they were perfect going 2-2. The Cougars answered as Noah Kon made a driving layup with 26 seconds left and led to another foul and two more attempts from the line for Regis. This time, the Rangers left the door open a bit as they missed one free throw and the Cougars took it down to the other end and Shaylen Woodberry hit a three pointer to make it a two point game 77-79 with 11 second left. Another foul gave Regis two more chances at the charity stripe, and unfortunately they hit on both to push their lead to four points again. CCU quickly drove down the floor and Woodberry once again hit one from beyond the arc to make it 80-81 with just one second remaining. The Cougars needed a steal on the inbounds pass, but it was not meant to be as Regis inbounded the ball and the final second ticked off the clock to seal the 80-81 defeat for Colorado Christian.
 
Jason Gallant led the way for CCU as he finished with 25 points in the game. This marks his third straight game with at least 20 points. DJ McDonald finished with 17 points and came away with five rebounds, while both Noah Kon and Isaiah Alonzo each finished with 11 points.
 
The Cougars will head into break with a 6-6 record overall and will be 2-4 in RMAC play. They will be looking to rebound for their next game in two weeks when they return home to the CCU Event Center to take on the Colorado School of Mines on Saturday December 31^st. Tip is scheduled for 5PM MST.