LAKEWOOD, Colo. (Jan. 1, 2021) – A balanced effort from the Colorado State University Pueblo men's basketball team guided the ThunderWolves to an 86-82 victory at Colorado Christian University, Saturday in a Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference contest.
 
The ThunderWolves (1-4, 1-4 RMAC) grabbed the first win of the season thanks to a quick start and four players in double figures. Freshman Tristan Hurdle (G, Highlands Ranch, Colo.) was the spark in the first half with five 3-pointers and 17 of his 19 points. Freshman guard Lian Ramiro (Fr., Aurora, Colo.) earned his first collegiate start and scored 15 points in the second half on his way to a team-high 20 points. 
 
Forward De'Shaun Cooper (Fr., Poway, Calif.) added 15 points and guard David Simental (R-Jr., Pueblo West, Colo.) scored 14 points to round out the double-digit scorers for the Pack. 
 
CSU Pueblo knocked down seven 3-pointers and shot 59.4 percent from the field in the first half and finished the game with a season-high 53.6 percentage from the field. The Cougars (1-5, 1-5 RMAC) shot 56.9 percent from the field and hit 12 3-pointers, which is one less than their average. The Pack won the glass by a 32-25 margin. The ThunderWolves led the entire game after knocking down the first shot 15 seconds into the contest.
 
Postgame Comments
 
"I couldn't be more proud of the guys," said CSU Pueblo Head Men's Basketball Coach Matt Hammer. "Coming back from break, the guys really showed up. CCU is a scary team and they don't play traditional basketball. They were averaging 35 3-point attempts a game and they have a lot of different guys that can contribute." 
 
"Tristian was taking good shots that were in rhythm and he wasn't forcing it. David did a really good job attacking the paint, putting pressure on the defense and being under control. I'm really proud of these freshman that we have, but my player of the game is Eric Williams. He came in and brought a spark defensively and had a balanced game on offense. You can't ask much more from a guy coming off the bench. Lian is patient and has a great eye for the game and really lets it come to him. He has instincts that you can't coach. We need to keep getting De'Shaun touches because he has great hands and a great touch around the basket."
 
"We were going over me starting in practice this week and I just had to get my mindset right to help the team get the win," Ramiro said. "Being a point guard, one of my main jobs is to take care of the ball when I'm on the court, I just try and get people involved and take care of the ball. When I get on the court I have a lot of confidence and I feel like I can compete with anybody. Over the break I worked on a lot of shooting and free throws and I just went to the free throw line with a lot of confidence. I'm a point guard and I should be making those." 
 
Stat Leaders
 
Ramiro hit 10-of-11 (90.9%) from the free throw line in the second half after coming into the game shooting 61.5 percent from the charity stripe in the first four games of the season. He was 7-of-8 from the line in crunch time. He added six rebounds, which tied for the team lead. 
 
Hurdle finished with 19 points and five rebounds with two steals. 
 
Cooper continued his extremely high efficiency from the field, as he went 7-for-9 (77.8%) Saturday and is shooting 85.2 percent from the field this season. He added five rebounds. 
 
Simental scored 14 points on 4-of-6 (66.7%) shooting from the field, a 3-pointer and a 5-of-7 (71.4%) effort from the line. 
 
Off the bench, guard Eric Williams (R-Fr., Centennial, Colo.) totaled five points, six rebounds and a team-high four assists in 25 minutes of action. 
 
Summary
 
The Pack have struggled in the early minutes of games this season, but that wasn't the case to start 2021, as the ThunderWolves jumped out to a 13-0 lead. Hurdle hit three 3-pointers in the first three minutes of the game to ignite the Pack. 
 
The ThunderWolves built their largest lead of the game at 42-22 with 5:06 remaining in the first half before settling on a 12-point lead at the break at 48-36. 
 
The Cougars continued to chip away at the Pack advantage, as the CSU Pueblo lead bounced between five and 13 during the second frame. 
 
With 1:59 remaining the lead was just four at 79-75. Neither team could capitalize on their possessions, while Ramiro hit seven free throws in the final 23 seconds to overcome a furious late charge by CCU. His final free throw iced the game with less than a tick on the clock, as the ThunderWolves won 86-82. 
 
Up Next
 
The ThunderWolves finish the weekend Sunday at Metro State University at Denver. Game time is set for 4 p.m.  

-- PACK --