LAKEWOOD, CO- The Cougars opened up home RMAC play in a packed house and came away with an electric home opening conference win. The Cougars stifled the visiting Western Colorado Mountaineers 63-58 in a fashionable comeback in the second half. 

Schafer Reichart had the home crowd on their feet in minutes, starting the night off with a clever steal and layup to give the Cougars an early lead. He would notch another steal just minutes later followed by the first three-pointer of the night. Neither the Cougars nor the visiting Mountaineers could grab a hold of the game, with an astounding eight lead changes in just the first ten minutes.

As the night progressed, the visiting Mountaineers found an edge and led the Cougars by nine with six minutes left in the half. Jacob Everson continued to battle for the Cougars as he led the team with nine points, with both Noah Kon and Reichart following his lead each with a respective five and four points. Defensively, the Cougars big men kept the crowd alive as Nic Zeil and CJ Barnes each had massive blocks to close out the first half. The buzzer sounded with the visiting Mountaineers leading by ten, 36-26. 

Kon started the half for both sides with a mid range jump shot, followed by a flurry of points from Western to go up thirteen early in the half. Including a timely three-pointer from Zeil, different players for the Cougars continued to pour into the CCU offense, each with an unrelenting answer from the Mountaineers. Seven minutes into the half, a vital three-pointer from Brenden Patrick shifted momentum in the Cougars favor. A mammoth block from Barnes minutes later had the Event Center shaking, with the energy only increasing as Reichart drained his second three of the night. The Cougars would take their first lead of the second half as Zeil pocketed his second three with ten minutes remaining. 

Reichart and Zeil continued to lead the team to a four point lead with seven minutes left, thus far the Cougars biggest lead of the night. As time continued to trickle down the Cougars answered bucket for bucket, maintaining their four point lead with just sixty seconds left. Shaylen Woodberry snuffed out any last Mountaineer hope with the game's last two points from the free throw line. The final score at the buzzer was Cougars 63 and the Mountaineers 58. 

In the Cougars first RMAC victory, Everson and Reichart led the team with twelve points each, with Patrick following close behind with eleven points. Kon led the team with five assists and Barnes had an impressive five blocked shots on the night. 

The Cougars will be back in action away from home at Chadron State on December 12, with tipoff scheduled for 7 p.m. MST.