UC-Colorado Springs 96, CSU-Pueblo 88
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - CSU-Pueblo missed an opportunity to
score a season sweep over UC-Colorado Springs Friday, seeing a
strong night shooting the ball end up being futile as the Pack was
owned on the boards in a 96-88 non-conference loss.
UCCS out-boarded the Pack an amazing 51-21, and it didn't help
that the Mountain Lions shot an impressive .541 from the
field. The result was a deadlock, 46-46, at halftime, and a
50-point half by the Mountain Lions that kept the Pack reeling.
The tied score at half was a dubious development for the Pack,
as CSU-Pueblo led by 14, 40-26, with four minutes remaining in the
half. But UCCS uncorked a 20-6 run to tie things up, and
carried their momentum into the second half.
The Mountain Lions opened up an 11-4 run to take a 57-50 lead
four minutes into the half. But CSU-Pueblo managed a run of
their own, scoring 13 of the next 15 points to open up a 63-59 lead
at 12:38. But UCCS answered by going on another 20-6 run that
gave UCCS a 10-point lead it never lost.
CSU-Pueblo had its fair share of big producers on the night, led
by a 22-point performance by Marc Williams (Sr.,
Seattle, Wash.) and a 21-point game by Chris Busch (Sr.,
Oakland, Calif.). But no ThunderWolf netted more
than five rebounds besides Daniel Pierce (Jr., Edgewood,
N.M.), who again had a great night as the Pack's sixth
man, going for 14 points and eight boards.
UCCS, meanwhile, had five players score in double digits and
four players with six boards or more. The team's best was
Cole Smith, who had 24 points and 14 boards.
The loss deepens the hole CSU-Pueblo is in in the "Steel and
Silver Series," the all-sports competition between CSU-Pueblo and
UCCS. UCCS now has a 20-6 lead over the Pack, by virtue of
head-to-head wins in Men's and Women's Soccer, Volleyball, Men's
Golf and Cross Country. CSU-Pueblo has claimed wins in
Women's Basketball and a Men's Basketball win last week in
conference play. The "Steel and Silver Series" is scored by
awarding the school that wins the head-to-head season series four
points. A season split, like that in men's basketball
following tonight's loss, awards two points to each school.
23 points is needed to clinch the series.
CSU-Pueblo will take the rest of the holidays off before
returning to the hardwood Jan. 2 when it hosts Northern New Mexico
at the Chuck Stephens Classic at CSU-Pueblo.
