PUEBLO, Colo. – The Colorado State University Pueblo men's basketball team's second half struggles continued here Thursday evening as the ThunderWolves dropped its sixth straight game as they fell 80-69 to UCCS in Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference action at Massari Arena.
 
With the setback, the Pack's postseason hopes took a hit as they dropped their record to 10-14 overall and 5-11 in the RMAC and moved to 12th in the league standings with four games remaining in the regular season. UCCS improved to 15-8 overall and 9-6 in the RMAC.
 
Thursday's game capped a stretch of four games in seven days for the Pack and was less than 48 hours after suffering a 60-47 loss on Tuesday at Colorado Christian.
 
In Thursday's game, the Pack held a 39-35 lead at half and that was the largest halftime lead for the Pack since holding a six-point lead at 36-30 at home against South Dakota Mines on Dec. 14, but was outscored 45-30 in the second half to help the Mountain Lions post the victory and drop the Pack's record to 2-10 in the 2025 calendar year. Since opening the season with an 8-2 record, the Pack have posted a 2-12 overall record.
 
Senior guard Armon Muldrew (Perris, Calif./San Bernardino Valley) led the Pack with 17 points and added a career-high tying eight assists, while freshman guard Jordan Blair (Keller, Texas/Keller Central) added 14 points. Since joining the starting line-up for the Westminster game on Feb. 1, Blair is averaging 11.0 points and 5.0 rebounds per game over the last five games.
 
Two other Pack players finished one point shy of double figures as redshirt sophomore guard Jaden Kennis (Windsor, Colo./MSU Denver) and junior forward Victor Lado (Louisville, Ky./Vincennes University) each had nine points, while Kennis led the Pack with seven rebounds.
 
Senior forward De'Shaun Cooper (San Diego, Calif./Balboa School) finished with seven points to push his career total to 1,031 points, which is 25th on the school's career scoring chart as he passed both Josh Smith (1,026 points) and David Bradshaw (1,029 points) on the scoring chart.
 
For the game, each team shot over 50 percent from the field as the Pack finished the game shooting 53.9 percent (27-for-51) from the field and 47 percent (7-for-15) from the 3-point line, while UCCS shot 51 percent from the field and just 18.2 percent (4-for-22) from the 3-point line, including shooting 63 percent from the field and 38 percent from long distance in the second half to help aid in its comeback win.
 
The Pack jumped out to an 18-10 lead just five minutes into the contest, before UCCS responded with a 10-2 run to tie the game at 20-all with 9:19 left in the game.
 
Following UCCS' run, the Pack used a 9-0 run capped by seven straight points from Lado to take a 29-20 lead with 6:49 left in the opening half. UCCS would answer back with a 7-1 run to pull within 30-27 with 4:21 left in the half.
 
The Pack once again came back as they scored six of the next eight points to push out to a 36-29 lead, but UCCS answered back by scoring six straight points and capped the run with a lay-up by Hannes Saar with 50 seconds left to pull the Mountain Lions within 36-35.
 
Muldrew, though, would cap the first half scoring on a trey with 31 seconds left to give the Pack its 39-35 halftime lead. The Pack is now 9-2 this season when leading at the half.
 
In the opening half, the Pack shot 56 percent from both the field and 3-point line, while UCCS shot 41 percent from the field and was 1-for-14 from the 3-point line.
 
UCCS opened the second half on an 18-4 run to turn the Pack's 39-35 halftime lead into a 53-43 lead with 13:22 left in the game. The run was keyed by a combined 13 points from William Becker, Derik Pranger and Xavier Martinez.
 
The Pack, though, used a 5-0 run capped by a trey from fifth-year senior guard Brevin Walter (Las Vegas, Nev./South Dakota Mines) to pull within 53-48 with 10:54 left in the contest. UCCS would come right back as they scored 11 of the next 15 points to push in front 64-52 with 8:13 remaining.
 
CSU Pueblo would make one more run as they used a 16-10 run capped by a 3-point play from Blair with 1:21 left in the game. Blair's lay-up and subsequent free throw moved the Pack within six points at 74-68.
 
That would be as close as the Pack would get as Martinez scored a basket just 26 seconds following Blair's 3-point play to give UCCS a 76-68 lead. After Blair went 1-for-2 at the free throw line to pull the Pack within 76-69 with 47 seconds left, the Mountain Lions used a 1-of-2 free throws from Jezza McKenzie to push out to a 77-69 lead with 46 seconds left. McKenzie missed the second free throw and after Saar collected the offensive rebound and Martinez capped the scoring with a trey with 25 seconds left.
 
Saar paced UCCS with a game-high 22 points, while Martinez tallied 16 points, and six assists, and Becker added 14 points and 10 rebounds for his 12th double-double of the season. McKenzie also had 10 rebounds and scored seven points in the win.
 
The Pack was outrebounded 34-27, including 10-4 on the offensive boards. They also lost the turnover battle 13-8. UCCS scored 19 points off the Pack's turnovers.
 
The Pack also finished with 19 assists on its 27 made baskets and collected five blocks and five steals. UCCS had 16 assists on 31 made baskets, seven steals and were not credited with a blocked shot.
For the second straight game, the Pack struggled at the free throw line as after going 12-for-23 (52.2 percent) at the line against Colorado Christian, they were 8-for-14 (57.1 percent) at the line in Thursday's game. UCCS was 14-for-18 (77.8 percent) from the line.
 
The Pack will look to snap its six-game losing streak next Thursday, Feb. 20 as they travel to Durango, Colo., for a 7:30 p.m. RMAC game at Fort Lewis (15-9 overall, 9-6 RMAC). The Skyhawks, who have lost two straight games, plays at Western Colorado on Saturday afternoon.