PUEBLO, Colo. – The Colorado State University Pueblo men's basketball team entered Friday's Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference game with Colorado Christian with an 0-9 record when trailing at the half, but thanks to outscoring the Cougars, 43-23 in the second half that record improved to 1-9 following an impressive 77-58 win at Massari Arena.
 
With the victory, the ThunderWolves snapped a season-high four-game losing skid and improved its record to 11-12 overall and 7-10 in the RMAC, while CCU fell to 9-14 overall and 5-12 in the RMAC. The victory propelled the Pack into a five-way tie for seventh place in the league standings.
 
The Pack, who trailed 35-34 at the half, scored 43 points and led by as much as 21 points after halftime to earn its first win of the season after trailing at halftime. CSU Pueblo shot 47 percent from the field and 39 percent from the 3-point line after halftime.
 
Sophomore forward Isaiah Thompson (Colorado Springs, Colo./Fountain-Fort Carson) continued his red-hot play over the last three games as he tallied a third consecutive double-double as he had 17 points and a season-high tying 16 rebounds and added four assists. Over his last three games, Thompson is averaging 15.3 points and 14 rebounds per game and has now recorded eight double-doubles on the season.
 
In addition to Thompson, sophomore forward De'Shaun Cooper (Poway, Calif./Balboa School) added a season-high 17 points, while junior guard Makiah Morris (San Diego, Calif./San Diego City College) added 14 points and sophomore guard Lian Ramiro (Aurora, Colo./Grandview) had 12 points and a career-high nine assists in the victory.
 
Friday's win was the first for the Pack since earning a 67-54 victory over South Dakota Mines at home on Jan. 20. The win also improved the Pack to 9-5 at home and 5-3 at home in RMAC play.
 
After trailing 35-34 at the half, the Pack opened the second half on an 18-7 run to turn a one-point deficit into a 52-42 lead with 13:43 left in the game. The run began with a trey from sophomore guard Noble Robinson (Lubbock, Texas/Clarendon College) and was capped by a trey from Ramiro.
 
The Cougars, who dropped their eighth straight game to CSU Pueblo, used a 5-2 run to pull within 54-47 with 11:29 remaining in the game. The Pack, though, would respond with a 9-1 run capped by two free throws by Thompson to push in front, 63-48 with 5:08 left in the game.
 
Three straight points from Noah Kon brought CCU within 63-51, but a 3-pointer from Thompson helped jump start a 14-5 run over the final four minutes of the game to push its lead to 77-56. The run was capped by a 3-pointer from freshman guard Hilmir Hallgrimsson (Reykjavik, Iceland) with 1:04 left in the game. The run was keyed by five points from Thompson.
 
The Cougars capped the scoring with a lay-up from Kon with 13 seconds left in the game.
 
Jason Gallant paced the Cougars with 14 points, while Kon added 13 points off the bench. DJ McDonald finished with 11 points and Isaiah Alonzo posted a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds.
 
The Cougars led by as much as nine points in the just 10-plus minutes into the game at 24-15, before the Pack used an 11-2 run to tie the game at 26-all. The run began with two free throws from Thompson and was capped by a basket from Ramiro.
 
CCU would retake the lead on a basket by Kon with 5:04 left in the opening half, before the teams would take turns holding the lead until the Cougars closed the first half by scoring three of the final four points to hold its 35-34 halftime lead.
 
For the game, the Pack shot 42 percent from the field and 27 percent from the 3-point line, while CCU shot 40 percent from the field and were 2-for-12 (17 percent) from long distance.
 
The Pack held a 38-37 edge on the boards as the two teams combined for 26 offensive boards with CCU having 14 and CSU Pueblo collecting 12 offensive boards.
 
CSU Pueblo forced 10 turnovers that led to 12 points and the Pack had 19 assists on 25 made baskets and blocked five shots, with two block each from senior forward Meekness Payne (Phoenix, Ariz./University of New Hampshire) and sophomore guard Micah Lamberth (Colorado Springs, Colo./Classical Academy).
 
The biggest difference in the game came at the free throw line as the Pack finished the game 20-for-25 (80 percent) at the line, including a 12-for-14 (85.7 percent) effort at the line in the first half. CCU, though, was 10-for-20 at the line, including a 4-for-10 effort at the line in the first half.
 
CSU Pueblo will look to make it two straight wins as they close their two-game homestand with a 7:30 p.m. game on Saturday, Feb. 11 against Chadron State. The Eagles enter the game having won seven straight games following its 76-54 win Friday at New Mexico Highlands.