PUEBLO, Colo. – Colorado State University Pueblo men's basketball opened the home portion of its 2025-26 schedule here Friday evening with an emphatic 91-48 victory over Kansas Christian in front of 744 fans in Massari Arena.
With the win, the ThunderWolves move to 3-0 on the season, while Kansas Christian falls to 3-5 on the year.
Friday's game marked the home coaching debut of Pack first-year coach Zach Ruebesam, who is the first Pack coach to win their first three games to open their career since Pat Eberhart's initial team in 2005-06 won its first five games en route to finishing the season with a 17-10 record.
In Friday's victory, the Pack used overwhelming defense, relentless rebounding (54-28 advantage), and a balanced offensive attack as 14 of the 15 players that saw action scored in the contest, including three players tallying double figures.
Senior center Kaleb Mitchell (Fountain, Colo./Northern State) paced the Pack with a double-double of 15 points and 10 rebounds, while sophomore guard/forward Jordan Blair (Keller, Texas/Keller Central) tallied 11 points, six rebounds and three assists and redshirt junior guard Jaden Kennis (Windsor, Colo./MSU Denver) added 10 points, six rebounds, and four assists. Kennis and Blair have scored in double figures in all three games this season.
The Pack bench also played a role in the win as they outscored the Falcons bench, 51-12 as Mitchell paced the bench scoring with 15 points, while freshman guard Bryce Riehl (Colorado Springs, Colo./Mesa Ridge), junior guard Dylan Sanders (Aurora, Colo./Pearl River CC) and junior forward Kyren Allen (Commerce City, Colo./Trinidad State) each had eight points.
On the night, the Pack bench players had plus/minuses that ranged from 27 for Riehl to 35 for junior guard Cash Callaway (Pasco, Wash./South Mountain CC).
After a tightly contested opening seven minutes that featured six ties and four lead changes, CSU Pueblo flipped the game with a 26–10 run to build a 48–33 halftime advantage. The Pack thrived in transition and punished Kansas Christian's mistakes, scoring 17 points off 10 first-half turnovers, while dominating the glass (22-13).
Mitchell delivered a powerful close to the half, throwing down a fast-break dunk and a tip-in at the buzzer to push the lead to 15 at the half.
The second half belonged entirely to the ThunderWolves, who opened with a 13–2 burst and never looked back as the Pack held Kansas Christian to just 15 points on 21.4 percent shooting from the field. Allen, Mitchell, Sanders, and Riehl combined to score 25 of the Pack's 43 second-half points.
On the night, the Pack tallied 54 points inside the paint and held a 27-6 edge in second chance points as the Pack pulled down 21 offensive rebounds with Mitchell having five of those offensive boards.
Defensively, the Pack forced the Falcons into 22 turnovers that led to 27 points. The Pack had 17 steals with three steals each from Kennis and redshirt sophomore guard/forward Corbin Garver (Colorado Springs, Colo./Air Academy). Nine Pack players had at least one steal in the game.
Kansas Christian, meanwhile, struggled to sustain offense outside of Damon Werts, who scored 17 points, but went just 6-for-20 from the field in the loss. Werts scored 15 of his team's 33 first-half points.
In the opening half, the Falcons made five treys and 45 percent from the field and held a 13-9 lead just five-plus minutes into the game, but the Pack responded with a 32-18 run to push out to a 41-31 lead with 2:35 left in the opening half.
The Falcons shot 33.3 percent overall and only 25 percent (6-for-24) from the 3-point line in the loss.
Meanwhile, the Pack finished the night shooting 45.3 percent from the field (34-for-75) and were just 21.9 percent (7-for-32) from the 3-point line. The Pack, though, was strong at the free throw line as they were 16-for-19 (84.2 percent) from the free throw line.
The Pack also finished with 19 assists on 34 made baskets as Kennis and Callaway each had four assists.
CSU Pueblo will look to make it four straight wins as it continues its six-game homestand on Saturday, Nov. 22, with a 7 p.m. game against North American University.
