COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (January 3, 2015) – The Colorado State University-Pueblo men's basketball team suffered a 101-81 loss at No. 3 University of Colorado Colorado Springs Saturday. The Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference contest was the first of the 2015 calendar year for the ThunderWolves.
UCCS remained undefeated and improved to 13-0 overall, 7-0 in RMAC play. The Pack, which shot just 26.7 percent from 3-point land (8.6 percent below average), dropped to 8-5 overall and 4-3 in league play.
The ThunderWolves shot 38.2 percent from the floor, while allowing UCCS to shoot 55.9 percent, which was just above the Cougars' average of 51.1 percent that ranked 20th in the nation entering the contest. The two teams were No. 1 and No. 2 in assists per RMAC game coming into the battle with CSU-Pueblo as the leader with 19.5 helpers per game. The ThunderWolves were bested by UCCS Saturday, losing the category 22-10. The Pack were out-rebounded 48-36.
Senior center Tyrone Marshall (Denver, Colo.) guided four ThunderWolves in double-figures scoring with 14 points. He added five rebounds and shot 50 percent from the floor. Junior guard Rico Spikes (Merriville, Ind.) finished with 13 points, six rebounds and a team-high three assists. Junior Odessa Lear (G, Parkhill, Colo.) added 12 points, while junior Bronson Moton (F, Aurora, Colo.) scored 10 points and added a team-best seven rebounds.
The Pack trailed 20-12 with 11:11 remaining in the first half, but posted an 8-0 run during 1:34 of play to knot the contest 20-20, the first tie ball game since the opening minute at 2-2. Marshall totaled five points in the run, while Lear converted on an old-fashioned 3-point play.
The ThunderWolves trailed 22-21 with eight minutes left and had held UCCS's Derrick White to zero points (White averaged 24.2 points per game to rank eighth in NCAA Division II). White knocked down a 3-pointer with 7:36 left and would go on to score the next 12 points for the Cougars.
Marshall scored the next four points of the game and the contest was tied 25-25, but White continued his dominance of the last minutes of the first half and all of a sudden the Pack trailed by nine, 38-29 with 3:31 remaining in the half.
CSU-Pueblo trailed by 10 at 35-45 with 1:05 left and was about to face a 15-point deficit at halftime until a Spikes 3-pointer at the buzzer made the scoreboard read 50-38 at the break.
White closed the half with 19 points, while Marshall totaled a CSU-Pueblo-best 14 points.
The Pack scored the first five points of the second half to cut to the deficit to seven 50-43. The teams traded buckets until a mini 5-0 run by UCCS gave the Cougars a 12-point lead at 59-47 with 16:11 left in regulation.
The ThunderWolves would only score one point during a 2:27 stretch, but fortunately the Cougars didn't capitalize and a senior guard Jed Knafelc (Highlands Ranch, Colo.) 3-pointer cut the deficit to eight at 59-51 with 14:30 left.
CSU-Pueblo still trailed by eight, 69-61 with 8:57 showing on the game clock, but that would be as close as it would get the rest of the way.
White finished with 29 points, 10 rebound and five assists.
Next, the ThunderWolves return to Massari Arena Jan. 9-10 for a RMAC weekend with Colorado Mesa University Friday and Western State Colorado University Saturday. Both contests are slated to begin at 7:30 p.m.
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As a member of the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference, Colorado State University – Pueblo competes in 22 varsity sports in NCAA Division II intercollegiate athletics.
