PUEBLO, Colo. – Colorado State University Pueblo men's basketball used a strong second half here Saturday evening as the ThunderWolves posted an impressive 77-62 victory over MSU Denver in Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference action at Massari Arena.
 
With the win, the Pack improved to 8-7 overall and 4-5 in the RMAC, while MSU Denver fell to 10-4 overall and 4-4 in the league. The victory, which improved the Pack to 6-3 at home this season, moved the Pack into a tie for eighth place in the RMAC standings with South Dakota Mines.
 
Saturday's game was a tale of two halves for the Pack as MSU Denver shot 56 percent from the field and were 8-for-8 from the free throw line to hold a 39-34 halftime lead, before the Pack shot 60 percent from the field and 50 percent from the 3-point line as they outscored the Roadrunners, 43-23, in the second half to post the come-from-behind victory and snap an eight game losing streak to the Roadrunners.
 
The Pack's win was keyed by the play of senior guard Makiah Morris (San Diego, Calif./San Diego City College) as he recorded his second double-double of the season with 24 points and a career-high tying 13 rebounds. He also added a career-high eight assists and shot 10-for-15 from the field. Morris has now scored 20 or more points in five games this season.
 
In addition to Morris, junior guard Armon Muldrew (Perris, Calif./San Bernardino Valley) added 22 points and shot 7-for-14 from the field. The third double-digit scorer for the Pack was junior forward De'Shaun Cooper (Poway, Calif./Balboa School) as he tallied 19 points and added seven rebounds and a career-high tying four blocked shots. Cooper was 8-for-9 shooting from the field and a perfect 3-for-3 from the free throw line.
 
Muldrew, Cooper and Morris combined for 36 of the Pack's 43 second half points as Muldrew scored 18 points, while Cooper and Morris each scored nine points after halftime.
 
The Pack, who trailed by five at half, used a 13-0 run over a span of six minutes in the second half to turn a 54-52 deficit into a 65-54 lead with 3:25 left in the game. The run began with a driving lay-up by Morris and was capped by a lay-up from Muldrew. All the points during the run were scored by Muldrew, Morris and Cooper.
 
After a lay-up by KJ Garrett stopped the Pack run with 3:25 left in the game to cut the Pack's lead to 65-56, the Pack would close the game by scoring 12 of the final 18 points to post its comeback victory and improve to 1-3 this season when trailing at the half. Muldrew scored seven of the Pack's 12 points during the run, including capping the scoring with two free throws with 23 seconds left. The 15-point margin of the victory was the largest lead of the game for the Pack.
 
MSU Denver, who were without two of its starters due to illness in Saturday's game, was paced by offensively by 12 points and seven rebounds from Marzouq Ibn Abdur-Razaaq, while Garrett added 10 points in the loss. The Pack held MSU Denver leading scorer, Brayden Maldonado, to a season-low eight points as he was 3-for-18 shooting from the field and 0-for-7 from the 3-point line in the game. Maldonado entered the game averaging 18.7 points per game.
 
The Pack opened the game by scoring 13 of the first 21 points to hold a 13-8 lead just six minutes into the contest. MSU Denver, though, would respond with a 9-0 run to take a 17-13 lead with 12:15 left in the opening half.
 
CSU Pueblo would answer back by scoring 12 of the next 16 points to push out to a 25-21 lead following two free throws by Cooper with 8:10 left in the half. In fact, Cooper scored eight of his 10 first half points during that run.
 
The Roadrunners answered back with a 10-3 run to push out to a 31-28 lead with 4:56 left, before the Pack tied the game at 31 on a trey by senior guard Brevin Walter (Las Vegas, Nev./South Dakota Mines), who scored five points on the night to snap his nine-game streak of scoring in double figures.
 
From that point, MSU Denver would close the first half on an 8-3 run to take its 39-34 halftime lead.
 
Thanks to its 60 percent shooting from the field in the second half, the Pack finished the game shooting 56 percent from the field and shot 33 percent (6-for-18) from the 3-point line. MSU Denver shot 41 percent from the field as after shooting 56 percent from the field in the first half, they shot just 29 percent from the floor in the second half. The Roadrunners also shot 15 percent (2-for-13) from the 3-point line.
 
The Pack were outrebounded, 34-31, but they forced MSU Denver into 13 turnovers that led to 15 points. The Pack had 11 turnovers that led to 16 points for the Roadrunners.
 
CSU Pueblo also had 20 assists as along with Morris' career-high eight assists, junior guard Daeyon James (Stockbridge, Ga./Seward County CC) had a season-high six assists. The Pack also blocked a season high five shots in the win.
 
The Pack, who entered the game having made 52 of its last 60 free throws over a span of three games, struggled from the line in Saturday's game as they were 13-for-19 (68 percent) at the line. MSU Denver finished the game 10-for-11 (91 percent) at the line.
 
CSU Pueblo will conclude its three-game homestand with a 7:30 p.m. RMAC game on Tuesday, Jan. 16 against New Mexico Highlands (7-8 overall, 4-6 RMAC), who suffered a 69-60 loss at home on Saturday to No. 23 ranked Colorado School of Mines.