PUEBLO, Colo. (GoThunderWolves.com - Feb. 9, 2013) - CSU-Pueblo secured a big-time win Saturday night, helping its case in the RMAC standings - as well as CSU-Pueblo's standing in the "Steel and Silver Series" - with an 81-72 win over UC-Colorado Springs.

With the win, CSU-Pueblo is 10-12 overall and 9-7 in RMAC play, solidly in fifth place in the RMAC standings.

The first half started similar to Saturday night's women's game - 47-37 Pack loss - with UCCS coming out more aggressive. But with RMAC playoff positioning on the line, the Thunderwolves quickly turned an early 15-7 deficit around with a 16-0 run, jumping out to a 23-15 lead it would never relinquish. The Thunderwolves held the Mountain Lions scoreless for over seven minutes during the run.

The Thunderwolves took a 39-26 lead into halftime thanks to Bryse Velasquez (Sr., Colorado Springs, Colo.), who couldn't miss in the first half, as he led the Thunderwolves with 11 points, shooting 3-for-4 on three-pointers. Wendell Lee (Jr., Los Angeles, Calif.) put in a strong first half performance as well, collecting six rebounds to go along with six points.

"I thought I played well. They played off me early and I was able to get a couple threes and after that, it really opened up our offense. We were able to get into the lane and kick out which is why we shot so well." Velasquez said.

The ThunderWolves came out in the second half aggressive, hoping to extend their lead. The Pack did just that, sinking multiple three- point shots to extend the lead to 50-35.

The Mountain Lions were not going to go away that easily, however, as they battled back to bring the score within nine, but the Thunderwolves never let them get any closer as they kept the Mountain Lions tamed throughout the game.

The ThunderWolves shot 12-for-29 from three-point land to make up for the fact that the Mountain Lions outrebounded the Pack 46-38. Lee led the Pack on the boards with nine rebounds despite battling foul trouble throughout the game. 

The ThunderWolves have made a habit of having different players step up through out the year when other s have struggled. Saturday the combination of Ryan Arel (Sr., Shawnee, Kan.) and Velasquez were the difference. 

"We didn't play well but the guys played hard," Pack head coach Ralph Turner said. "I'm proud of them for that but we need to execute a little better on offense and we really need to rebound better. But our work ethic made up for our silly mistakes in this game."

The Thunderwolves now enter a tough stretch of road games that will decide their placement in the RMAC Tournament.

"We are going to learn from this game," Turner said. "It was a good win for us momentum wise but we are going to need to learn from our lack of execution if we are going to be successful on this stretch."

The ThunderWolves had four players in double figures in the game. Arel led the Pack with 18 points while Matt Rosenbaum (Jr., Sidney, Neb.) also had 16 points. Velasquez finished with 15 points, six rebounds, six assists and two steals to cap off his best game of the season.