PUEBLO, Colo. – Colorado State University Pueblo men's basketball sent out its two seniors with a bang here Saturday evening as the ThunderWolves closed out the 2022-23 season with a 77-62 victory over Regis University in Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference action on Senior Night at Massari Arena.
 
Prior to the start of Saturday's season finale, the Pack honored its two seniors in a pregame ceremony. This year's two seniors recognized were forwards Elijah Moleon (Killeen, Texas/Angelo State) and Meekness Payne (Phoenix, Ariz./University of New Hampshire).
 
With Saturday's victory, CSU Pueblo closes the season with a 12-16 overall record and an 8-14 mark in the RMAC, while Regis fell to 12-16 overall and 9-13 in the league. The Pack has now won 12 games for the second consecutive season.
 
"What a great way to send out our seniors on a high note with a big victory," CSU Pueblo head coach Matt Hammer said. "We had an up-and-down season and it wasn't what we wanted as a team, but it feels good to win our last game and carry some momentum into the offseason."
 
Saturday's victory was keyed by a strong offense that shot 48 percent from the field and scored 38 or more points in each half. In addition, the Pack held a 48-35 edge on the boards and held Regis to 35 percent shooting from the field 19 percent shooting from the 3-point line.
 
On senior night, it was the scoring of sophomore guard Lian Ramiro (Aurora, Colo./Grandview) that also played a role in the victory as Ramiro closed the season with a game-high 20 points and added five rebounds. The 20 points pushed Ramiro's career scoring total to 1,065 points, which is 21st in school history.
 
In addition to Ramiro, Payne closed out his college career by scoring 14 points and adding seven rebounds, while sophomore guard Noble Robinson (Lubbock, Texas/Clarendon College) added a season-high 14 points in just his second start of the season in place of junior guard Makiah Morris (San Diego, Calif./San Diego City College), who suffered a season-ending knee injury in Friday's home loss to UCCS.
 
Moleon had seven points and seven rebounds in his final collegiate game.
 
Two other Pack players just missed double figures by one point as junior forward Isaiah Thompson (Colorado Springs, Colo./Fountain-Fort Carson) had nine points and 11 rebounds, while freshman guard Sam Howery (Colorado Springs, Colo./St. Mary's) also had nine points.
 
The Pack closed the season by finishing with a 10-7 record at home, including going 6-5 at home in RMAC play and improved to 11-2 on the year when leading at the half.
 
Regis, who earned a 70-69 win at home over the Pack on Jan. 27, never had a lead in Saturday's game as the Pack scored the first points of the game and led 11-6 just six-plus minutes into the game.
 
The Rangers would respond with an 11-7 run over the next five-plus minutes to pull within 18-17, but the Pack would score 16 of the next 23 points to push out to a 34-24 lead following a driving lay-up by Howery with 2:43 left in the opening half.
 
Regis would close the opening half on a 7-4 run to cut CSU Pueblo's lead to 38-31 at the half. Payne (10), Howery (9) and Ramiro (9) combined to score 28 of the Pack's 38 first half points.
 
The Pack opened the second half on a 13-8 run to push out to a 51-39 lead following a basket by Payne with 14:26 left in the game.
 
Regis made another push as they used a 9-5 run to pull within 56-48 with 11:30 left in the game. A lay-up by Robinson with 10:29 left in the game jump started an 8-3 run by the Pack to extend its lead back to 13 points at 64-51 with 8:55 remaining. Robinson scored six of his team's eight points during the run.
 
After Regis scored four straight points to pull within 64-55 with 5:35 left, the Pack would respond with a 13-5 run to push out to a 77-60 lead with 45 seconds left. The run began with a free throw from Moleon and was capped by a lay-up from Moleon. Regis would cap the scoring with two free throws by CJ Reed.
 
David Simental, who played at CSU Pueblo from 2019-21, finished the night with 19 points to pace the Rangers. In addition to Simental, Brayden Carter added 11 points and 10 rebounds.
 
While shooting 48 percent from the field, the Pack shot 33 percent (7-for-21) from the 3-point line and was 12-for-19 (63.2 percent) from the free throw line.
 
The Pack lost the turnover battle, 11-5, but blocked three shots to one for Regis.