PUEBLO, Colo. (December 9, 2022) - The Colorado State University Pueblo Men's Basketball team was able to come out victorious on Friday evening beating the Adams State Grizzlies 77-54. On the back of De'Shaun Cooper, who scored a game high 16 points, and Makiah Morris who put in 15 of his own. Along with the two big point scorers, Isaiah Thompson notched 13 rebounds. 
 
The game started with Adams State coming out hot, dropping in a pair of buckets to lead by 4, but after free throws from Moses Demalek and Morris, the score was tied. Meekness Payne dropped in a big three pointer to take the lead 7-4 and the Pack never looked back. Lian Ramiro was able to be the facilitator all night, extending the lead with 16:28 remaining in the 1st, all the while recording 8 points and a pair of assists of his own. 
 
Back to back shots made by Demalek extended the lead to 8. The teams traded baskets for 10 minutes until Cooper was able to put in a huge exclamation point of a dunk to pull the Pack ahead by 11. A pair of free throws and a layup made it 6 straight points by the sophomore. The Pack, leading by 14, took a timeout to strategize with 18 seconds remaining in the half. The timeout turned out to be effective, when Morris dropped in a layup to close out the dominating first half by CSU Pueblo, leading 39-23.
 
The Grizzlies had some fight left in them however, pulling in as close as 9 points within the first 4 minutes of the second half. But two straight layups from Cooper all but sealed the deal, putting the Pack up 15 a few minutes later. Noble Robinson got in on the fun, scoring back to back baskets and 5 points of his own in the second half. A back and forth battle ensued, but Demalek dropped in a 3 pointer with 4:11 remaining to put the final dagger in. 
 
A comfortable RMAC victory, to put the Pack at 2-1 in conference play and 6-3 overall, was exactly what CSU Pueblo needed heading into a marquee matchup against #12 Fort Lewis Saturday night. Shooting 46.8% from the field, and forcing Adams State to shoot just 29%, showed that this fast paced offense and tough defense is an effective formula. Along with this, creating 13 assists to Adams State's 4, the Pack had their best all around effort in RMAC competition thus far in the 2022-23 campaign. Demalek led the Pack with 7 assists on the night. 
 
The Thunderwolves look to carry the momentum into Saturday night, as they face #12 Fort Lewis at 7:30 p.m. in Massari Arena.