Pack claims victory after nearly losing handle on game.
GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. (GoThunderWolves.com - Nov. 26, 2011) - In a game that almost slipped away from the ThunderWolves, CSU-Pueblo hit a bucket with 17 seconds remaining to claim a 72-70 win over Southern Virginia at the Colorado Mesa Clarion Inn Classic.
Ty Trahern (Sr., Kit Carson, Colo.) capped a stellar weekend at Colorado Mesa's tournament, taking a feed from Bryse Velasquez (Jr., Colorado Springs, Colo.) to lay in the game winner, breaking a 70-70 tie. It was part of a final five minutes that saw Southern Viriginia nearly pull out a game it had trailed for all but 16 seconds of the entire game.
CSU-Pueblo was rolling through Southern Virginia to the tune of 45 first-half points, carrying a 12-point, 45-33 advantage into halftime. The ThunderWolves shot 46 percent in the first half, including 6-for-13 on three-pointers, as a dominant win seemed almost imminent.
But Southern Virginia managed to make a game of it in the second half. First, they opened the half scoring 14 of the first 20 points, cutting the Pack's lead to 51-47. Then, after the ThunderWolves jumped back ahead 59-49, Southern Virginia went on a 15-3 run to take its first and only lead of the game, 64-62, with 3:58 remaining in the game.
But the Pack dug deep to hold off the comeback as Arden Dennis (Jr., Aurora, Colo.) sank two straight buckets to put the ThunderWolves up 66-64. The Pack would add three more buckets, part of a 10-0 run that put CSU-Pueblo up 70-64 with 1:59 remaining.
Despite the buffer, Southern Virginia would tie it with 31 seconds remaining at 70 apiece, setting up the eventual game-winner by Trahern. The Pack defense then kept Southern Virginia from taking a quality shot, forcing a time out with seven seconds left, which led to a three-point shot as time expired.
The Pack was led by Dennis' 19 points and 14 by Trahern, as well as a 7-point, 8-assist night from Velasquez, who turned in his most productive game of the season thus far.
CSU-Pueblo will continue on the road as it travels to Adams State Friday followed by a trip to Fort Lewis Saturday, its first two games of the conference slate.
