PUEBLO, Colo. (March 5, 2015) – The No. 4 seed Colorado State University-Pueblo men's basketball team (21-8, 16-6 RMAC) will battle to keep its season alive Friday, March 6 in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Shootout Semifinals against the No. 1 seed and host Metropolitan State University of Denver (25-4, 19-3 RMAC). The game is set for a 7:30 p.m. start at Auraria Event Center and will air live on CET 105 (900 HD) for Comcast subscribers.
CSU-Pueblo Game Notes (PDF)
MSU Denver Game Notes (PDF)
RMAC Shootout Men's Basketball Bracket
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RMAC Shootout History
The ThunderWolves are 7-12 overall in RMAC Shootout games, dating back to 1997. The Pack have made the tournament three straight seasons after missing out for two seasons. CSU-Pueblo hosted just its second RMAC Shootout game Tuesday, using home court advantage to post a 72-63 victory against Fort Lewis College. For the sixth time, the Pack are making an appearance in the tournament's semifinals. CSU-Pueblo is 1-5 in those games, with the last appearance in 2010, losing to MSU Denver 70-61 in Pueblo.
The Pack are 1-2 against the Roadrunners in the tournament (all semifinal games), with the one win coming in 1998 (CSU-Pueblo's only appearance in the RMAC Shootout Championship).
Regional Rankings
The ThunderWolves ranked No. 8 in the final edition of the NCAA Division II Men's Basketball South Central Region rankings, released March 4. The top eight teams from each region advance to the NCAA Tournament, which will be officially announced Sunday on ncaa.com. The ThunderWolves have made five appearances in the NCAA Division II Tournament, with the last in 1997-98.
The ThunderWolves
The ThunderWolves knocked down the first bucket of the game, but failed to score for nearly five minutes and by the midway point of the half the Pack trailed 21-8. At that point CSU-Pueblo was just shooting around 25 percent, while Fort Lewis was shooting 75 percent. The ThunderWolves chipped away at the deficit and won the last 10 minutes to trail by just three at the break, 29-26.
With momentum carrying over into the second frame, the ThunderWolves broke off an 11-4 run and took the lead off a Lear layup making it 35-33 with 14:38 remaining - their first advantage since it was 3-0 in the early going.
The Skyhawks hung in there and made their own little 6-0 run to take back control 39-37, but CSU-Pueblo didn't budge and responded with another stretch. This time it was a 16-4 run that captured their largest lead of the match, 53-43 with 6:20 remaining. The lead would hold to the final buzzer and cap a 13-2 home season for the Pack.
Senior Jed Knafelc led the way for the ThunderWolves and had a game-high 23 points (20 in the second half) and tallied four rebounds.
The Roadrunners
The Roadrunners have won four straight and are 13-1 since Jan. 16 (the Pack are 11-2 since Jan. 17). MSU Denver needed a last second shot to defeat then-No. 18 UCCS Feb. 28 to secure a share of its third straight RMAC Regular Season Championship. The Roadrunners downed Colorado Christian 70-57 in the first round of the RMAC Shootout. They were guided by the RMAC Player of the Year Mitch McCarron, who totaled 11 points, 11 rebounds and 13 assists. Nicholas Kay totaled 24 points and 14 rebounds against CCU. Kay guides the team with 20.2 points per game, while McCarron owns 20.0 points per contest.
Thunderwolves vs Roadrunners
The ThunderWolves are 0-2 against MSU Denver this season, but lost by just one at home, 75-74, Dec. 14. Just last Friday, the Pack went to Denver and lost 83-60.
MSU Denver has won 40 straight home games, with the last loss coming March 1, 2013 against CSU-Pueblo by the score of 70-69. In the last three seasons, the Roadrunners are 51-1 in the friendly confines of the Auraria Event Center.
Quickly
• With 21 wins, the Pack have posted the most wins since the 1997-98 team went 22-8. CSU-Pueblo capped the RMAC season with a 16-6 mark, good for the most conference wins in a season (records date back to 1963). CSU-Pueblo now has six seasons with 20 or more wins (since 1963) and just four with 21 or more victories.
• The Pack rattled off an eight-game win streak from Jan. 23-Feb. 21, which was the longest since the 1997-98 team posted 14 consecutive victories from Jan. 17 to the RMAC Championship Game, where it lost to Nebraska Kearney.
• Since Jan. 9, the ThunderWolves are 13-3.
• Junior Bronson Moton was selected as All-RMAC First Team, while senior Tyrone Marshall and junior Rico Spikes earned All-RMAC Second Team honors.
• In conference games only, CSU-Pueblo finished second in steals (7.7 spg), third in turnover margin (+2.55) and blocks (3.8 bpg) and fifth in assists (14.6 apg).
• With an assist/turnover ratio at 1.3 (RMAC games only), the ThunderWolves were tied for third, while their +2.64 turnover margin was third.
• CSU-Pueblo has knocked down 10 or more 3-pointers in 16 games this season.
• The ThunderWolves finished the regular season with 794 3-pointers attempted (6th nationally), 285 made (13th in total 3-pointers made) and an average of 10.2 3-pointers per game (9th in the nation). CSU-Pueblo led the RMAC in all three categories. The Pack can also defend the arc and ranked second in the league in 3-point field goal defense (opponents shooting 34.2 percent).
• With 111 total blocks the Pack ranked 49th nationally (3rd in RMAC) at the end of the regular season. Marshall's 45 blocks ranked fourth in the RMAC and 52nd in the nation.
• CSU-Pueblo's balanced scoring attack is guided by Marshall's 12.6 points per game. Bronson Moton's 7.3 rebounds per game is fifth in the RMAC.
• Senior Jed Knafelc (11.1 ppg) has totaled 180 3-point field goal attempts to rank third in the league. Knafelc's 89.2 free throw percentage ranks third in the RMAC. He has averaged 19.3 points per game in the last three contests and hit 10 3-pointers in that time span. When he scores 12 or more points, the Pack are 12-2 this season.
• Senior Devonte Malcolm has hit on 44.1 percent of his 3-point attempts this season (63-of-143) to lead the team and rank seventh in the RMAC. His 63 3-pointers sits seventh in the league, while Knafelc's 64 is tied for fifth.
• CSU-Pueblo owns an 9-3 mark in Friday games this season.
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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.
