COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (Jan. 15) – The Colorado State University men's basketball team walked out of Gallogly Event Center with a nail-biting 72-67 road victory over UCCS on Saturday night behind four ThunderWolves scoring in double-figures.
 
Despite missing theirs first three field goals to start the game, the ThunderWolves jumped out to an early 11-4 lead over UCCS after Meekness Payne (Jr., Phoenix, Ariz.) hit a mid-range jumper with 13:29 left in the first half.
 
The Mountain Lions cut the lead down to one point before Micah Lamberth (Fr., Colorado Springs, Colo.) drove the lane in a fast break that sparked a 13-6 run for the Pack that gave them a 28-20 lead with 2:56 remaining in the half.
 
Noble Robinson (Fr., Lubbock, Texas) finished the half off for the Pack with his own mid-range jumper to give the ThunderWolves a 33-22 lead going into the break. The ThunderWolves held the Mountain Lions to 8 of 21 shooting from the field for 25% shooting on the half while shooting 15 of 30 from the field as a team.
 
Lian Ramiro (Fr., Aurora, Colo.) swished a deep ball with 16:44 on the clock l that gave the ThunderWolves a 41-27 lead before five unanswered points for the home team cut the lead down to 41-32 with 15:45 left in the game.
 
Two straight field goals from Robinson and Ramiro followed by a fast break dunk from De'Shaun Cooper (Fr., Poway, Calif.) later gave the ThunderWolves their biggest lead of the night at 49-34 with 13:29 left in the game.
 
The ThunderWolves maintained a double-digit lead throughout the remainder of the second half before a 3-point basket from UCCS Jon'il Fugget cut the ThunderWolves lead down to 69-62 with 39 seconds on the clock and forced a Mountain Lion timeout.
 
UCCS came out of the timeout with a full-court press that rattled the ThunderWolves and forced Payne to throw the ball across court and out of bounds and give the ball back the Mountain Lions. On the ensuing possession, UCCS Alijah Comithier was fouled on a 3-point attempt and connected on all three free throws that cut the ThunderWolves lead to 69-65 with 22 seconds left in the game.
 
Another costly turnover from Payne on the inbound pass gave the Mountain Lions yet another chance to cut the deficit, but two missed free throws from the Mountain Lions followed by 3 out of 4 free throws made from Elijah Moleon (Jr., Killeen, Texas) sealed the deal in a 72-67 win over UCCS for the ThunderWolves.
 
Payne led the Pack with 17 points off 7 of 9 shooting while Moleon added 16 points and seven rebounds. Ramiro finished the night with 13 points while dishing out a game-high 4 assists and Lamberth added 11 points and five rebounds.
 
The Pack will be back in action next weekend on the road with games against Fort Lewis on Friday and Western Colorado on Saturday before returning home to host Colorado School of Mines and Regis on the following weekend at Massari Arena.