LAKEWOOD, CO- The Cougars began 2026 on Friday as they hosted Northern New Mexico College inside the CCU Event Center. Led by a balanced attack and a dominant second half, CCU ran away with a 99-74 victory over the Eagles.
Pierce Bazil drained an early three-pointer, and
Ezra Guest got the offense going with back-to-back swishes from beyond the arc to put his team ahead 11-8.
Andrew Reichart began what would be a stellar night with a pair of layups, while
Porter Bazil splashed in a three and a jumper as CCU led 24-20 midway through the half.
The barrage from downtown continued as
Lincoln Cantrall and Guest connected on threes, and a Pierce jumper and pair of free throws from Andrew sent CCU to the break leading 47-38.
The Eagles hung in the game tough to start the second half, cutting into the deficit and eventually taking a two point lead. The Cougars had seen enough as
Jimmy House drilled a three-pointer and new addition
Rob Matos converted a layup to put CCU back in front. They would not trail the rest of the game as another House three and jumper from
Jared Lloyd Jr. made it a 12 point lead.
The Bazil brothers continued to do work in the paint, as Pierce nailed a jumper and Porter put in a layup as the lead grew to 17. Andrew got the crowd on its feet with a dunk, and Matos put in another layup as the lead continued to grow. Perhaps the highlight of the night came with a little over three to play as Reichart found Porter cutting towards the basket and laid off the pass for a thunderous slam that sent the entire gym into a frenzy. A three and pair of free throws from
Zachary Reed closed the scoring on a convincing 99-74 victory.
It was an extremely balanced night offensively as 11 Cougars appeared on the score sheet, led by Pierce with 22 points. Reichart followed with 17 with seven boards, and Porter nearly had the double-double with a strong 12 points and nine rebounds. Newcomer
Rob Matos put in 13 points in a stellar debut.
CCU will pick back up in RMAC play with a home matchup against UCCS on January 6 at 7 p.m. MST.
