GOLDEN, Colo. (January 22, 2016) – Sizzling shooting in the base of the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains guided the Colorado State University-Pueblo men's basketball team to a dominate 90-80 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference victory at Colorado School of Mines Friday.
The ThunderWolves (12-6, 8-4 RMAC) shot a season-best 60.4 percent from the field and knocked down 61.5 percent from 3-point range (16-of-26) to hand Colorado Mines the loss (12-6, 7-5 RMAC).
CSU-Pueblo has hit 12-plus 3-pointers on eight occasions this season and are 61-of-138 for a 44.2 percentage from long range in the last four games.
The Pack held CSM to just 39.3 percent shooting from the field and outrebounded the Orediggers, 35-30.
Five players were in double-figures for CSU-Pueblo, guided by 16 from junior guard Syrus McDonald (Flint, Mich.). He added a team-high five assists, as the Pack won the helpers category 20-15. Senior forward Odessa Lear (Parkhill, Colo.) recorded his fourth double-double of the season with 15 points and 10 rebounds.
Senior guard Chris Golden (Milwaukee, Wis.) added 14 points, six rebounds and four assists, as he hit four 3-poitnters and shot 50 percent from the field. Sophomore guard Will Newman (Lawndale, Calif.) added 13 off the bench and junior center Nelson Kahler (Noosa Heads, Australia) totaled 11 points.
The ThunderWolves got it rolling early and jumped out to an 11-5 lead during the first four minutes of play.
The 3-pointers started dropping with 11 minutes to play in the opening half, as Kahler knocked one down from long range to open a 21-13 advantage.
The dagger from the big man started a three-minute stretch where the Pack hit four 3-pointers, which ended with back-to-back possessions with a Newman long ball that pushed the score to 32-19.
The run didn't stop there, as CSU-Pueblo reached a 20-point lead at 39-19 with 8:12 remaining in the first 20 minutes. The home team failed to score for nearly four minutes to help the run.
A Golden 3-pointer with 2:22 remaining pushed the Pack lead to 48-27, but the Orediggers would win the final minutes 11-5.
CSU-Pueblo went into the half owning a 53-38 lead after shooting 62.1 percent from the field and knocking down 11 from long range.
Colorado Mines cut the deficit to 10 multiple times in the first nine minutes, but couldn't get to single digits of the Pack, as the road team continued to answer anything CSM had to offer.
The lead was 16 with 10:18 remaining in the half following a 6-0 run by the ThunderWolves. The Pack re-started hitting 3-pointers during the next few minutes of play and pushed the advantage to 18 before holding the lead to the final buzzer and winning, 90-80.
Next for the ThunderWolves is a 7:30 p.m. road game at Colorado Christian University Saturday.
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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.
