LAKEWOOD, CO- The Cougars opened RMAC play against Western Colorado at home on Thursday night in front of a large and raucous crowd inside the CCU Event Center. In a tightly contested affair, CCU narrowly fell to the Mountaineers by a final score of 64-56. 

Colorado Christian came out red hot, surging to a 20-2 lead less than seven minutes into play. Lincoln Cantrall started the scoring with a three-pointer, and Pierce Bazil hit a layup and three for an 8-0 advantage. Porter Bazil splashed in a three, while a Schafer Reichart layup and Zachary Reed three-pointer had CCU ahead 18. 

The Mountaineers began to chip away at the lead, climbing back to within 25-18 with seven minutes and change left in the half. WCU managed to tie the game at 28 with 3:42 to go, and a strong close to the half took the visitors into the break ahead 42-33. 

The Mountaineers rode the momentum into the second half, taking their biggest lead of the night at 54-38 with 14:49 on the clock. The Cougars began to rally, starting with a three and layup from Pierce as they trailed by just 11 midway through the half. 

Reichart eventually cut the deficit to single digits with a layup with 4:17 to go, while Porter hit a pair of free throws and Pierce made a layup to cut the gap to four as the crowd began to get the loudest they had been all night. Unfortunately, the Mountaineers were able to get several stops and hit their free throws down the stretch to close out the 64-56 victory. 

Pierce led his team with 23 points and three steals, while Joshua Reid pulled down a team high seven rebounds. 

The Cougars return to action at home against Colorado Mesa on December 6 with tipoff set for 3 p.m. MST.