LAKEWOOD, CO- The Cougars continued their homestand on Saturday as they looked to avenge an early season loss against South Dakota Mines. The hosts got their payback convincingly, rolling past the Hardrockers 86-58 as they dominated from the opening tip to the final horn. 

After an early SDM layup, CCU responded as Porter Bazil made a layup of his own. Schafer Reichart got going with a three-point play, while Pierce Bazil hit a layup for the 7-5 lead. Pierce picked up right where he left off Thursday when he drained eight three-pointers for a career night, hitting an early trey to put his team ahead 12-4. Porter splashed in a three off the assist from his brother, and Andrew Reichart put his team up 11 midway through the half with a layup. 

The two teams traded baskets a large majority of the final 10 minutes of the first half with the lead for CCU hovering in the 10-12 point range. A mini run saw the Hardrockers close to within four points with 3:21 to play, but Pierce continued his torrid shooting with another three to give CCU a little more cushion. Pierce dropped in a layup and Joshua Reid sent his team to the break leading 42-30 with a layup. 

Determined to keep their foot on the gas coming out of halftime, Pierce began to completely take over with a layup and three to stretch the lead to 17. The hot start to the half and good defensive play carried the hosts to a 63-45 lead with 9:20 remaining. 

The Hardrockers could not get many shots to fall, and the opposite was true for CCU as they continued to pour in shots from all areas of the floor. Jared Lloyd Jr. entered and hit a layup, while a three-pointer from Jimmy House grew the lead to the largest it had been at 24. Colorado Christian cruised to the finish line the final five minutes of play, getting everyone on the bench some playing time as Lloyd Jr. hit a three and Rob Matos closed the scoring with a layup to seal a convincing 86-58 victory. 

Pierce was tremendous for the second straight game, pouring in a game high 32 points on 4-7 shooting from deep with 3 rebounds, 2 assists and a steal. Reid scored 12 with 5 rebounds, while Porter dropped 9 points with 6 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 blocks. It was a dominant night from the Cougars as they outscored their opponent 40-22 in the paint and shot 50% from the field while limiting SDM to 36.4% shooting. 

Now sitting in ninth at 6-8 in the RMAC and a game behind UCCS in eighth, CCU will look to keep their momentum rolling as they host CSU Pueblo on February 12 at 8 p.m. MST inside the CCU Event Center.