SALT LAKE CITY, Utah – Colorado State University Pueblo men's basketball opened Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference play here Thursday evening with hard-fought 72-62 victory over Westminster University at Behnken Field House.

With the victory, the Pack improves to 6-1 overall and 1-0 in the RMAC, while Westminster falls to 6-3 overall and 0-1 in the league. The win marked the first time the Pack won its league opener since 2019 when they collected a 72-60 win in Alamosa, Colo., against Adams State.  

The win was also the Pack's fifth straight regular season road game in RMAC dating to last season as the Pack are now 7-5 on the road in league play since the beginning of last season.

Three Pack players finished in double figures in the win as senior guard Armon Muldrew (Perris, Calif./San Bernardino Valley) led the way with 15 points, while fifth-year senior guard Brevin Walter (Las Vegas, Nev./South Dakota Mines) added 14 points, including hitting four three-pointers and junior guard Denim Johnson (Omaha, Neb./Trinity Valley CC) recorded his first career double-double as he scored a career-high 12 points and pulled down a career-high 10 rebounds.

Thursday's win was keyed by a strong defensive effort on the perimeter as they held the Griffins to a 1-for-14 effort from the three-point line, while the Pack made nine treys and shot 43 percent from long distance. The Pack outscored the Griffins, 27-3 from the 3-point on the night.

The Pack, who led for all but 21 seconds in game, opened the game by making 11 of its first 21 shots, including drilling five of its 10 3-point shot attempts as they pushed out to a 27-11 lead with 9:48 left in the opening half. Walter made all three of his 3-pointers during the run as he tallied 11 points in the first half.

Following the Pack run, Westminster responded with a 12-8 run over the next six-plus minutes to cut the Pack lead to 34-23 with 3:27 left in the first half. Johnson capped the first half scoring with a floating jump shot with 1:06 left in the opening half to give the Pack a 36-23 lead at the half.

In the opening half, the Pack shot 50 percent from both the field and 3-point line and forced the Griffins into six turnovers that led to 10 points for the Pack. The Pack committed just one turnover in the opening 20 minutes.

The Griffins, who have now lost three straight games in the series to the Pack, opened the second half on a 9-6 run to drop the Pack's lead to 42-32 just six minutes into the half. The Pack, though, responded with an 18-8 run over the next eight-plus minutes to push its lead to 60-40 following an alley-oop to Johnson from redshirt sophomore guard Jaden Kennis (Windsor, Colo./MSU Denver) with 6:46 left in the game.

Westminster answered back to cut the Pack's lead to 65-57 following a 17-5 run following two free throws by Donaval Avila with 41 seconds left.

Muldrew would hit two free throws with 39 seconds left to push the Pack's lead to 67-57, before Westminster's Parker Christensen scored five of the next six points to pull with Griffins within 68-62 with 15 seconds left in the game. Muldrew and Johnson would each hit two free throws in the final 15 seconds of the game to cap the scoring.

Westminster was led offensively by Christensen, who scored 22 points off the bench, including tallying 16 of those points in the second half. In addition to Christensen, Ryan Rubensakas added a double-double of 16 points and 10 rebounds for the Griffins. The Pack held Westminster's leading scorer Chase Potter to just five points as he was just 1-for-8 from the field and 3-for-3 at the free throw line. Potter entered the game averaging 17.4 points per game.

For the game, the Pack shot 48 percent from the field and 43 percent from the 3-point line, while Westminster shot 43 percent from the field.

The Pack also shot 73 percent from the free throw line as all 15 of their free throw attempts came in the second half, and Westminster shot 79 percent from the line.

CSU Pueblo also held a 35-28 edge on the boards, but lost the turnover battle, 14-12. The Pack had 13 of those turnovers in the second half as they had just one first half turnover.

The Pack also had 12 assists on 26 baskets and collected five steals in the game. Westminster had 12 assists on 25 backets and five steals.

The ThunderWolves will look to start 2-0 in RMAC for the first time since 2015-16 on Saturday, Dec. 7 as they conclude the two-game road trip with a 3 p.m. game in Gunnison, Colo., against Western Colorado. Western Colorado opened RMAC play with an 83-77 home win Thursday over Colorado Christian.