PUEBLO, Colo. – Colorado State University Pueblo scored the final nine points of overtime here Thursday evening to post a 92-88 come-from-behind victory over Adams State in Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference action at Massari Arena.
 
The win helped the ThunderWolves snap a six-game losing skid and improve its record to 9-8 overall and 4-5 in the RMAC, while Adams State fell to 7-10 overall and 2-7 in the league. Thursday's win, which was the first for the Pack in 40 days since earning a 68-58 home win on Dec. 14 over South Dakota Mines, moved the Pack into a three-way tie for eighth place in the RMAC standings.
 
The Pack's 92 points marked the second-highest point total this season and the most points they've scored in an RMAC game on the season, while the overtime win was the first for the Pack since earning a 98-91 win at home over UCCS on Feb. 5, 2016. In addition, it marked the first overtime game for the Pack since suffering an 85-79 home loss last season to Mines on Jan. 12, 2024.
 
In Thursday's game, the Pack led 79-76 with 12 seconds left in the regulation following two free throws by ASU's Cameron Kimble. On the ensuing Pack possession, senior guard Armon Muldrew (Perris, Calif./San Bernardino Valley) was fouled and stepped to the line to shoot two free throws, but Muldrew missed both free throws to keep the Pack's lead at 79-76 with four seconds left.
 
On ASU's trip down the court, Jude Tapia was fouled with two seconds left, and Tapia stepped to the line and made the first free throw, but the second one missed to the left, and on the play, Kimble grabbed the offensive rebound was fouled by senior forward De'Shaun Cooper (San Diego, Calif./Balboa School). Kimble would make both free throws to tie the game at 79 with 0.8 seconds left in the regulation.
 
Fifth-year senior guard Brevin Walter (Las Vegas, Nev./South Dakota Mines) had a shot to end the game his regulation, but his shot from 75 feet bounced off the rim at the buzzer to force the Pack's first overtime game this season.
 
In overtime, ASU scored nine of the first 13 points to lead 88-83 following a trey by Ta'Veus Randle with 1:49 left in overtime. Following a turnover by the Pack, Randle misfired on a trey and the Pack drove down the court and pulled within 88-85 following basket by junior forward Victor Lado (Louisville, Ky./Vincennes University) with 1:07 left in overtime.
 
Following Lado's basket, Tapia's jump shot on ASU's ensuing possession was blocked by junior guard Denim Johnson (Omaha, Neb./Trinity Valley CC), and the blocked shot led to a trey from Muldrew with 31 seconds left that tied the game at 88-all. The tie was the 16th and final tie of the game.
 
On ASU's possession following Muldrew's trey, junior guard Kesean Bazile (Victorville, Calif./West Hills Lemoore) collected a steal on a turnover by Luke Williams with 8.0 seconds left in the game. On the play, Williams was called for a flagrant foul on Bazile that led to two free throws and the ball for the Pack. Bazile was injured on the play and the Pack brought Walter into the game and he made two straight free throws to give the Pack a 90-88 lead with 8.0 seconds left in the game. On the inbounds play, Walter was fouled and made two more free throws to give the Pack a 92-88 lead with 8.0 seconds left to seal the Pack's first win of the 2025 calendar year.
 
Muldrew paced five Pack players in double figures with a season-high 20 points and added five assists, while Cooper added 15 points and six rebounds and pushed his career total to 965 points and is now just 35 points shy of becoming the 28th member of the Pack's 1,000-Point Club. In addition to Muldrew and Cooper, Bazile and Johnson each tallied 13 points and Lado chipped in with 10 points to extend his double-digit scoring streak to three straight games. The Pack's bench scored 42 of their 92 points in Thursday's game.
 
The Pack offense finished the game shooting 51 percent from the field but was just 4-for-20 (20 percent) from the 3-point line and was 20-for-27 (74 percent) at the free throw line, including a 6-for-6 effort at the line in overtime. Meanwhile, Adams State shot 44 percent from the field, 28 percent (7-for-25) from the 3-point line, and was 21-for-24 (88 percent) at the line.
 
ASU jumped out to a 14-10 lead six-plus minutes into the game before the Pack used a 19-5 run keyed by 11 points from Bazile to push out to a 29-19 lead with 6:49 left in the opening half.
 
After the Grizzlies used an 8-2 run to pull within 31-27 with 6:17 left in the first half, the Pack used back-to-back baskets by Muldrew and junior guard Sam Howery (Colorado Springs, Colo./St. Mary's) to take a 35-29 lead with 3:01 left in the half.
 
ASU would close the first half on an 8-5 run to give the Pack a 40-37 halftime lead. The Pack is now 9-0 this season when leading at the half.
 
The Grizzlies opened the second half on a 16-12 run to take a 53-52 lead with 15:03 left in regulation. The Pack answered with an 11-7 run capped by a lay-up from Johnson to take a 63-60 lead with 10:37 left in regulation.
 
ASU would answer by scoring eight of the next 13 points to tie the game at 68 following a turn-around jumper by Williams with 6:45 remaining. Neither team would score for nearly three minutes until Johnson hit 1-of-2 free throws with 3:50 left in regulation to give the Pack a 69-68 lead.
 
After Randle made 1-of-2 free throws with 3:34 left in regulation to retie the game at 69, the Pack used a 9-5 run to take a 79-74 lead with 17 seconds left. ASU outscored the Pack, 42-39 in the second half.
 
John Harge led five Grizzlies in double figures with 15 points and six assists, while Wyatt Helming added 14 points and Kimble chipped in with 13 points off the bench. Tapia finished with 12 points and Williams tallied 11 points and a game-high tying seven rebounds.
 
The Pack was outrebounded 39-37 as Johnson led the way with seven boards, while Cooper Bazile each had six boards. In addition, the Pack committed 19 turnovers that led to 20 points for the Grizzlies, while ASU had 21 turnovers that led to 28 points for the Pack.
 
The Pack also had 26 assists on 34 made baskets as Howery and Muldrew each tied career-highs with five assists. ASU had 22 assists on 30 made baskets.
 
Each team had 14 steals as Bazile finished with a career-high six steals, and the Pack blocked three shots, including a career-high tying two blocks by Johnson.  
 
The Pack will look to make it two straight wins as they continue its four-game homestand with a 3 p.m. game on Saturday, Jan. 25 against New Mexico Highlands (8-9 overall, 1-8 RMAC). The Cowboys, who fell 81-78 on Thursday at UCCS, collected an 85-63 win over the Pack in a non-conference game on Nov. 23 in Las Vegas, N.M. The loss to NMHU was the Pack's first loss this season as they entered the game with a 4-0 record.