GUNNISON, Colo. (Jan. 22) – The Colorado State University Pueblo men's basketball team dropped a heart-breaker in overtime to Western Colorado after a 3-pointer at the buzzer gave the Mountaineers a 92-89 win on Saturday evening.
 
The game started out a close one, with the Mountaineers maintaining a five-point lead throughout the majority of the first half. The WCU lead didn't last long as the ThunderWolves closed out the half on an 8-4 run that tied the game at 38 at the break.
 
Th Pack quickly jumped out to a four-point lead after halftime after two free throws and a layup from Elijah Moleon (Jr., Killeen, Texas) gave the ThunderWolves a 42-38 lead.
 
The ThunderWolves later outscored the Mountaineers 13-9 after Isaiah Thompson (Fr., Colorado Springs, Colo.) finished in the paint to give the Pack a 55-47 with 11:56 left in the game.
 
The Pack maintained a comfortable lead for the next few minutes before the Mountaineers were able to cut the lead down to three points with 1:26 left on the clock. Lian Ramiro (Fr., Aurora, Colo.) came up with a steal and found Micah Lamberth (Fr., Colorado Springs, Colo.) in the open court that gave the ThunderWolves a 75-70 lead with 1:03 to go.
 
WCU answered with a 3-pointer coming out of a timeout that cut the lead down to 2-points before Meekeness Payne (Jr., Phoenix, Ariz.) was fouled with 10.6 seconds left in the game. The junior went to the line and went 1 of 2 before the ThunderWolves chose to foul the Mountaineers to try to avoid a 3-point basket.
 
WCU Matthew Ragsdale went to the line and made the first free throw before intentionally missing the second free throw and coming up with the offensive rebound. Malcolm Little (So., San Diego, Calif.) was called for a reach-in foul with 4.6 seconds on the clock that sent WCU Kade Juelfs to the charity stripe who sent the game to overtime.
 
The teams traded baskets throughout majority of the overtime period before Moleon grabbed an offensive rebound and was fouled trying to lay the ball back in. Moleon tied the game with 40.6 seconds left after going 1 of 2 from the free-throw line.
 
On the ensuing possession, the Mountaineers hit a deep 2 from the corner before Ramiro grabbed the inbounds pass and was fouled trying to get to the rim. The freshman knocked down both free-throws and tied the game with 7.4 seconds left before the Mountaineers sped down the court and found on open WCU Grant Wilkinson in the corner who knocked down a buzzer beater from the corner and gave the Mountaineers a 92-89 victory.
 
The Pack had five players finish in double figures as Ramiro finished with 27 points, 3 assists, and 2 steals and played in all 40 minutes while Moleon added 17 points and 8 rebounds. Paybe, also played 40 minutes, finished with 12 points and Thompson scored 11 points and grabbed a team high 9 rebounds off the bench while Lamberth scored 10 points.
 
The ThunderWolves are back at home next weekend and are set to host Colorado Mines and Regis on Friday and Saturday at Massari Arena.