PUEBLO, Colo. – For the second straight game, the Colorado State University Pueblo men's basketball was outscored 11-4 over the final three-plus minutes of a game here Saturday as the ThunderWolves suffered a heartbreaking 72-66 loss to Westminster in Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference action at Massari Arena.
 
In Thursday's 64-61 loss to Colorado Mesa, the Pack was outscored 9-1 over the final four minutes to turn a 60-55 lead into a three-point loss, while in Saturday's game against Westminster, the Pack was outscored 11-4 over the final three-plus minutes of the game to turn a 63-63 lead into a six-point defeat.
 
With the setback, the Pack falls to 10-10 overall and 5-7 in the RMAC, while Westminster improves to 11-9 overall and 5-7 in the league. The Pack and Westminster as now tied for ninth place in the league standings with eight regular season games remaining.
 
Five Pack players finshed in double figures in Saturday's game as senior guard Armon Muldrew (Perris, Calif./San Bernardino Valley) led the way with 12 points and a career-high eight assists, while junior guard Sam Howery (Colorado Springs, Colo./St. Mary's) and freshman guard Jordan Blair (Keller, Texas/Keller Central) each had 11 points and five rebounds each. Senior forward De'Shaun Cooper (San Diego, Calif./Balboa School), junior guard Denim Johnson (Omaha, Neb./Trinity Valley CC) and fifth-year senior Brevin Walter (Las Vegas, Nev./South Dakota Mines) each had 10 points for the game.
 
With his 10 points, Cooper moved within six points (994 points) of becoming the 28th member of the Pack's 1,000-Point Club, while Walter's 10 points pushed his career total to 1,929 points, which is fourth among active Division II players and Howery's 11 points were a new career high as his previous career high was 10 points in 2022 against Spurgeon.
 
The Pack, who trailed 34-32 at the half, opened the second half on a 20-11 run to take a 52-45 lead following a 3-pointer by junior guard Sam Howery (Colorado Springs, Colo./St. Mary's) with 9:09 left in the game. During the run, Howery and Blair combined to score 12 of the Pack's 20 points.
 
Following that run, the Griffins answered with an 8-0 run capped by a lay-up from Jack Jamele to give Westminster a 53-52 lead with 6:56 remaining in the game. The Pack would tie the game at 53-all on a free throw by Blair, but the Griffins reeled off five straight points to take a 58-53 lead with 5:21 remaining.
 
The Pack, though, would mount another rally as they scored nine of the next 12 points to take a 62-61 lead following a trey by fifth-year senior guard Brevin Walter (Las Vegas, Nev./South Dakota Mines) with 3:14 left in the game. Walter's trey came after Muldrew drilled back-to-back treys to pull the Pack within a single point at 60-59.
 
Following Walter's trey, Jamele would make 1-of-2 free throws with 2:54 left to tie the game for the ninth and final time, and then Jamele made a trey with 1:50 left to give WU a 65-62 lead. Back-to-back baskets by Walter helped the Pack retake the lead at 66-65 with 45 seconds remaining.
 
On the ensuing possession, WU's Simon Akena made a driving lay-up with 34 seconds left to give WU a 67-66 lead. Muldrew would drive to the basket on the Pack's next trip down court, but he missed on his lay-up attempt and Donaval Avila would hit two free throws with 21 seconds left to give WU a 69-66 lead.
 
After a timeout by the Pack, Walter would misfire on a 3-pointer with 13 seconds left and, on the rebound, Parker Christensen was fouled, and he split a pair of free throws to give the Griffins a 70-66 lead with 10 seconds left. On the Pack's next trip down court, Muldrew misfired from the three-point line and Nicholas Holland grabbed the rebound, was fouled, and made two free throws with two seconds left to seal WU's win and snap a three-game losing skid to the Pack.
 
Christensen paced five Griffins in double figures with 12 points, while Holland and Jamele each tallied 11 points off the bench. Chase Potter and Avila each had 10 points in the win. The Griffins bench outscored the Pack's bench, 38-12.
 
The Pack jumped out to an 8-5 lead and led by 14-12 with 12:42 left in the opening half before WU responded with a 13-5 run capped by Christensen lay-up to take a 25-19 lead with 7:49 left in the first half. The Pack, though, responded with a 13-6 run capped by a fast break dunk by Blair to take a 32-31 lead with 1:21 left in the opening half.
 
Following Blair's dunk, WU would close the half with a trey by Tommy Ball to give the Griffins a 34-32 halftime lead. The Pack is now 1-10 this season when trailing at the half.
 
For the game, the Pack shot 50 percent from the field and 38 percent from the 3-point line, while Westminster finished the game shooting 48 percent from the field and 53 percent (8-for-15) from the 3-point line. Both teams shot over 50 percent from the field in the first half as the team combined to miss just 22 of their 50 shots.
 
The Pack held a 29-28 edge on the boards as Cooper had six, while Howery and Blair each collected five boards and also held a 20-15 edge in assists as along with Muldrew's eight assists, Howery had a season-high six assists.
 
CSU Pueblo lost the turnover battle, 12-10, as those 12 turnovers led to 12 points for the Griffins. The Pack scored eight points off WU's 10 turnovers.
 
Perhaps the biggest difference in the game was at the free throw line as WU shot 19 free throws to just seven for the Pack as the Griffins were 14-for-19 (73.7 percent) at the line, while the Pack was 4-for-7 (57.1 percent) at the line.  
 
The Pack will look to rebound next week as they begin a three-game road trip in 10 days as they open the trip with a 7 p.m. game on Thursday, Feb. 6 in Spearfish, S.D., against Black Hills State, before playing a 3 p.m. game on Saturday, Feb. 8 in at Chadron State and concluding the road swing with an 8 p.m. game on Tuesday, Feb. 11 in Lakewood, Colo., against Colorado Christian.