PUEBLO, Colo. – Colorado State University Pueblo men's basketball made just enough plays down the stretch here Saturday evening as the ThunderWolves survived a late rally by Colorado Christian to post a hard-fought 73-70 win over the Cougars in Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference action at Massari Arena.
 
With the victory, the Pack improves to 5-3 overall on the season and 1-1 in the RMAC, while CCU falls to 3-4 overall and 0-2 in the league. Saturday's game concluded a season-long six game homestand for the Pack as they went 5-1 on the homestand.
 
The Pack, who led 72-64 with 1:04 left in the game following two free throws by senior guard Makiah Morris (San Diego, Calif./San Diego City College), survived a 6-0 run by the Cougars to pull them within two at 72-70 with 20 seconds left in the game. Following two free throws by Schafer Reichart that brought CCU with two points, the Pack sealed the win by senior guard Brevin Walter (Las Vegas, Nev./South Dakota Mines) hitting one-of-two free throws with 17 seconds left. A final shot from about 30 feet by the Cougars fell way short of the basket with two seconds left.
 
CCU's final run was aided by a turnover on a jump and a missed shot in the paint by Walter before Walter's free throw to seal the victory.
 
Walter recorded his second straight 20-plus point game in Saturday's game as he followed up his season-high 26 points in Friday's 84-82 loss to Chadron State, the South Dakota Mines transfer scored a game-high 23 points and added five rebounds, three assists and was 7-for-8 at the free throw line.
 
In addition to Walter, Morris added 20 points, six rebounds, four assists and two steals. The third double-digit scorer for the Pack was junior guard Daeyon James (Stockbridge, Ga./Seward County CC) as he tallied 12 points, six rebounds and three steals.
 
The Pack played Saturday's game without graduate student guard Isaiah Morris (San Diego, Calif./Cal State Dominguez Hills) and junior guard Aurrion Harris (Merced, Calif./Columbia College) as those two players were nursing injuries suffered in Friday's game with Chadron State.
 
Noah Kon kept the Cougars in the game as he scored a team-high 19 points and added five rebounds and four assists. Three other CCU players scored nine points in the game and Reichart added seven points off the bench as CCU's bench outscored the Pack, 24-13.
 
CCU got off to a fast start in Saturday's game as they held a 13-8 lead just six-plus minutes into the game. The lead, though, was shortlived as the Pack responded with a 9-2 run to retake the lead at 17-15 following a basket by Walter with 11:09 left in the opening half.
 
The Pack lead would eventually grow to as much as eight points at 25-17 with 7:07 left in the first half. The Cougars, though, responded with a 19-9 run to turn an eight-point deficit into a 36-34 lead with 1:59 left in the half. The Pack closed the half with lay-ups by Morris and junior guard Armon Muldrew (Perris, Calif./San Bernardino Valley) with four seconds left to take a 38-36 lead at the half.
 
CCU opened the second half by scoring 11 of the first 18 points to take a 49-45 lead with 14:13 left in the game. The Pack responded with a 13-2 run keyed by six points from Morris and capped by a two Walter free throws to take a 58-51 lead with 7:56 left in the game.
 
After CCU scored six of the next eight points to pull within 60-57 with 5:20 left, the Pack answered back an 11-7 run capped by Morris' two free throws to push in front 71-64 with 1:04 remaining.
 
For the game, the Pack shot 44 percent from the field, but for the second straight game, the top 3-point shooting team in the league struggled from long distance as they were just 4-for-20 (20 percent) from the 3-point. In the loss on Friday to Chadron State, the Pack were just 3-for-15 from the 3-point line.
 
CCU finished the game shooting 41 percent from the field and 35 percent (12-for-34) from the 3-point line. The Pack entered the game allowing teams to shoot 19.5 percent from the 3-point line on the season.
 
The Pack were outrebounded 36-34 but forced CCU into 14 turnovers that led to 11 points. The Pack had 12 turnovers that led to 15 points for the Cougars.
 
CSU Pueblo also had an advantage at the free throw line as they shot 30 in the game and made 21 as they shot 70 percent at the line, while CCU was just 6-for-8 at the line.
 
The Pack will hit the road for the first time in RMAC play next weekend as they play back-to-back road games at Adams State on Friday, Dec. 8 and on Saturday, Dec. 9 at Fort Lewis. Friday's game in Alamosa, Colo., is set for 7:30 p.m., with Saturday's game in Durango, Colo., scheduled for a 6 p.m. tip-off.