LAKEWOOD, CO- The Cougars returned home on Thursday as they hosted crosstown rival MSU Denver inside the CCU Event Center in front of a raucous crowd. Led by strong defensive pressure and very consistent offense, CCU ran away with the victory by a final score of 79-70. 

Schafer Reichart began the scoring for his team with a layup, and Porter Bazil splashed in a three-pointer to give his team the lead. Andrew Reichart got a layup to go, and Porter buried another three to put his team ahead 14-12. An explosive dunk from Pierce Bazil got the momentum rolling with the Cougars as they continued to roll offensively. 

Pierce got his second dunk of the half moments later, and an Ezra Guest layup and another three from Porter sent CCU ahead 25-19. Joshua Reid got a tipin to go, and a Schafer three and three point play from Andrew had the Cougars on top 33-24. Porter nailed another three and Schafer hit a late layup as the hosts headed to halftime leading 39-27. 

Colorado Christian maintained the lead throughout the entirety of the second half, helped by an early three from Porter. The Bazil brothers continued to lead their team as Porter slammed home a thunderous dunk followed by a layup from Pierce to make it 49-34. MSU Denver went on a run from there, cutting the deficit to just six points, but CCU had enough of that as Schafer hit a layup and Pierce drilled a three to restore the double digit lead at 59-49. 

The Roadrunners switched to a zone defense for the majority of the second half, but CCU began to figure it out more and more as Porter slammed home yet another dunk and Reid hit a layup. Jared Lloyd Jr. got a layup to go after getting his own rebound, and that toughness led the way throughout the night as CCU hit their free throws down the stretch and iced a pivotal 79-70 victory. 

An all around performance from Pierce saw him lead all scorers with 24 points along with three rebounds, two assists and a steal. Porter was lights out from deep, connecting on 5-6 three-point attempts as he scored 22 points with four assists and three more boards. Schafer dropped 13 points along with eight rebounds and a gritty four steals. Reid led on the boards with 10 rebounds along with three assists. 

Of particular note on the night was the Cougars efficiency off of turnovers and second chances as they outscored their opponent 19-9 on second chance points and 25-6 off of turnovers. The Cougars forced 22 turnovers and only committed 11 as part of an impressive night for the defense. 

The Cougars will look to keep the momentum going at home as they take on Colorado School of Mines on January 17 with tipoff slated for 3 p.m. MST.