LAKEWOOD, CO- After a pair of games in Pueblo and New Mexico, the Cougars return to the Denver area for matchups at Colorado School of Mines and MSU Denver. CCU will take on the Orediggers on Friday night at 7 p.m. MST, followed by a matchup in Denver at 6 p.m. MST.
Mines comes into the weekend ranked #19/25 in the D2SIDA and NABC Coaches Poll respectively. They are fresh off an upset defeat at the hands of Colorado Mesa, and they will be looking to get back to their winning ways at Lockridge Arena on Friday night. Offensively, CSM is led by Adam Thistlewood, who scores at a clip of 15.3 points per game. All American Brendan Sullivan follows with 13.1 ppg. Thistlewood also leads in rebounds, pulling down 6.9 a contest while Kai Barr averages 4.8 a contest. Transfer Sam Beskind facilitates well with 3.7 assists a game, and Thistlewood again shows up again on the leaderboard with 2.3 apg. The Orediggers will look to get back on track after a home defeat last week, and secure their second win of the year over CCU after a New Years victory.
MSU Denver are having a tough year, sitting at 7-11 in the RMAC and in tenth in the conference. They are coming off a Saturday defeat against a strong Colorado Mesa team at home. This will be the first matchup of the year for the two teams, and the rivals will look to take the seasons' lone game. The Roadrunners are led offensively by Tyrei Randall, averaging 15.3 points per game, and Caleb McGill at 13.5 a contest. McGill leads in rebounds with 4.9 a game, while Randall pulls down 4.7. Brayden Maldonado helps out with 2.7 assists per game, followed by Luke Jones at 1.8 a contest. MSUD will look to get back on track with a home win on Saturday.
After a tough road trip at CSU Pueblo and New Mexico Highlands, the Cougars will look to right the ship with a pair of local contests not far from campus. CCU has an opportunity to split the season series at Mines and take their lone matchup with nearby MSU Denver on Saturday. DJ McDonald has shown growth all season, leading with 14.3 points a game, while Jason Gallant averages 13.4 a contest. Isaiah Alonzo pulls down 7.2 boards a game, and Maro Egodotaye grabs 4.5 a contest. Gallant dishes out 3.2 assists, followed by McDonald at 2.7 per game. The Cougars are hungry for a win and to close the season out the right way, and they will be intent on securing a pair of road wins this weekend.
Stay tuned to ccucougars.com for all updates on Colorado Christian's upcoming matchups.
