PUEBLO, Colo. (Jan. 6, 2021) – The guard play from the Colorado State University Pueblo men's basketball team guided the ThunderWolves to a 97-88 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference home victory against Adams State University, Wednesday at Massari Arena.
 
The Pack (2-4, 2-4 RMAC) collected their second win in a row by shooting 58.2 percent from the field and knocking down 27-of-31 (87.1%) from the line. The Grizzlies (3-3, 3-3 RMAC) were equally impressive from te field with a 55.2 percentage. The ThunderWolves totaled 22 points off the bench to ASU's five. 
 
Two of the starting guards, David Simental (R-Jr., Pueblo West, Colo.) and Lian Ramiro (Fr., Aurora, Colo.), combined for 49 points, eight assists and six rebounds. Simental led all scorers with 28 points on 10-of-13 (76.9%) shooting from the field and hit 8-for-8 from the line. Ramiro added 21 points and five dimes. 
 
Guard Tristan Hurdle (Fr., Highlands Ranch, Colo.) hit three from long range and scored 13 points and guard Eric Williams (R-Fr., Centennial, Colo.) totaled 12 points off the bench and brought down four rebounds. 
 
Postgame Comments
 
"The guys battled and made big plays," said CSU Pueblo Head Men's Basketball Coach Matt Hammer. "Adams State has a talented group. They are unselfish, long, patient and they don't force a lot."
 
"David played fearless tonight and it was great to see him get back into the rhythm of things. Both David and Lian were rock solid and it was great to see. Lian knows what all the other nine guys are on the floor are doing and not many other basketball players can do that."
 
"I'm just glad we came together and won this game," Simental said. "I never worry too much about scoring, I just want to win and that is what we all want to do as a team. We were a resilient team tonight. I practice a lot of mid-range, that is what I've been shooting since I was a little kid and that is one of things I always look for."
 
Stat Leaders
 
Simental added three rebounds and three assists. Ramiro went 6-for-11 (54.5%) from the field and went 8-for-9 (88.9%) from the charity stripe. He also had three rebounds. 
 
Freshman forward De'Shaun Cooper (Poway, Calif.) added 11 points, five rebounds and two steals. 
 
Summary
 
After getting down seven during the first half of the opening frame, the Pack battled to a 22-21 lead with 9:27 showing on the game clock. The Grizzlies came back and regained the lead 36-29 with 4:42 remaining, but the ThunderWolves rattled off a 14-4 run to close the half to hold a 43-40 at the break. 
 
Adams State tied the game 43-43 early in the second half, but the Pack went on another run to open a 10-point lead at 56-46 with 15:37. Simental had six points during the stretch. 
 
The Grizzlies didn't go quietly and tied the game 65-65 with 10:39 to play. After trading buckets, the Pack led 78-77 with 4:26 remaining. A Hurdle dagger from downtown jump started a 9-2 run, which opened up an 87-79 advantage with 2:34 left in the game. 
 
The lead was just four at 88-84 with two minutes to play, but back-to-back layups by Simental on the next two Pack possessions had the lead back to eight, which proved to be out of reach for the visiting Grizzlies, as the ThunderWolves posted the nine-point win, 97-88. 
 
In the end, the lead changed eight times and the contest was tied on five occasions. 
 
Up Next
 
CSU Pueblo will travel to South Dakota Mines Saturday for a 6 p.m. tilt with the Hardrockers.   

-- PACK --