ALAMOSA, Colo. – Colorado State University Pueblo men's basketball topped the century mark for the second straight game here Saturday afternoon as the ThunderWolves suffered a 115-110 overtime loss to Adams State in Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference play at Plachy Hall.

With the setback, the Pack drop to 11-15 overall and 6-12 in the RMAC, while Adams State improved to 12-14 overall and 7-11 in the league. Saturday's game was the final road game of the season for the Pack as they close the 2024-25 campaign with a 3-9 road record, including a 3-7 mark on the road in RMAC play.

In Thursday's game at Fort Lewis, the Pack scored 102 points in its 102-98 win over the Skyhawks and the 100 point game was the third this season for the Pack and 12th time since the beginning of the 2019-20 season as the Pack is 8-4 in sixth-year head Matt Hammer's tenure when scoring 100 or more points in a game.

The Pack forced overtime following three free throws by senior guard Armon Muldrew (Perris, Calif./San Bernardino Valley) with 2.9 seconds left after Jude Tapia fouled him on a deep three-point try with ASU holding a 94-91 lead. Muldrew's three free throws tied the game at 94. The free throws came after Te'Veus Randle made 1-of-2 free throws with 6.2 seconds left to give ASU a 94-91 lead. 

In overtime, ASU scored the first three points to take a 97-94 lead, but the Pack used a lay-up and free throw by fifth-year senior guard Brevin Walter (Las Vegas, Nev./South Dakota Mines) to cap a three-point play and retie the game at 97-all with 3:15 left in the extra session. After two free throws by Jaylen Alexander gave ASU a 99-97 lead, senior forward De'Shaun Cooper (San Diego, Calif./Balboa School) hit two free throws with 2:57 left to force another tie at 99. 

That would be as close as the Pack would get in overtime as ASU scored five straight points to take a 104-99 lead with 2:34 left. After junior guard Denim Johnson (Omaha, Neb./Trinity Valley CC) made two free throws with 2:20 left to pull the Pack within 104-101, ASU responded by scoring six of the next eight points to take a 110-103 lead. 

The Pack would score four of the next five points to pull within 111-107 with 12 seconds left, but Randle and Tapia would hit four straight free throws sandwiched around a 3-pointer from Johnson in the final 12 seconds to cap the scoring. In the overtime session, ASU scored on all of its possessions as they outscored the Pack, 21-16 to post the win. In overtime, ASU was 4-for-6 from the field and 12-for-14 from the 3-point line, while the Pack was 5-for-11 from the field and was 5-for-5 from the free throw line.

Walter paced the Pack with a season-high 29 points, including scoring his 2,000th career point on a basket with 10:36 left in the second half. Walter's 2,000th point basket gave the Pack a 68-59 lead. Following the basket, Walter called for a technical, and Tapia hit both technical free throws, and then on the ensuing possession, Tapia drilled a trey to bring the home team within four points at 68-64. With his 29 points, Walter pushed his career scoring total to 2,012 points, which is fourth among active Division II players and he is one of five active Division II players with 2,000 career points. 

In addition to Walter's 29 points, junior forward Victor Lado (Louisville, Ky./Vincennes University) added 20 points, while redshirt sophomore guard Jaden Kennis (Windsor, Colo./MSU Denver) added a career-high 19 points. Lado (16) and Kennis (13) combined to score 29 of the Pack's 42 first-half points as they led 42-40 at the half.

In the opening half, the Pack scored 10 of the first 12 points and 15-8 just seven minutes into the contest, when ASU used a 19-11 run to take its first lead of the game at 27-26 with 6:30 left in the opening half. The Pack, though, responded with an 8-0 run keyed by six points from Lado and capped by a turnaround jumper by Walter to give the Pack a 34-27 lead with 4:38 left in the half.  

After a tip-in by Randle brought ASU within 34-29, the Pack used a trey from Lado with 3:07 left to push out to a 37-29 lead. The Grizzlies closed the first half on an 11-5 run to cut the Pack's lead to 42-40 at the half. The Pack is now 10-3 this season when leading at the half. 

Johnson added 13 points off the bench and Cooper finished with 10 points and five rebounds and those 10 points pushed his career total to 1,057 points, which is 22nd on the school's all-time scoring chart. 

The Pack opened the second half on a 10-3 run to push its 42-40 halftime lead to a 52-43 lead a little more than two minutes into the half. After Wyatt Helming stopped the Pack run with a turnaround jumper, the Pack responded with a 10-4 run to take a 62-49 lead with 13:47 left in the regulation. The run began and ended with lay-ups from freshman guard Jordan Blair (Keller, Texas/Keller Central). That 13-point lead was the largest of the game for the Pack. 

ASU would respond with a 22-10 run over the next six-plus minutes to cut the Pack's lead to 72-71. The Pack, though, used back-to-back baskets by Lado and Johnson to take a 76-71 lead with 6:35 left in regulation. The Grizzlies came right back and scored seven straight points to retake the lead at 78-76 with 4:20 left in regulation. 

The Pack would tie the game at 78 on Muldrew's first basket of the game with 4:02 left in regulation, but the Grizzlies answered back by scoring five straight points to take an 83-78 lead with 3:18 left. Two free throws by Cooper and a driving lay-up by Kennis brought the Pack within 83-82 with 2:28 left in regulation, before ASU used two free throws each from Tapia and John Harge to push out to an 87-82 lead with 1:10 left. 

The Pack would respond with a 9-6 run capped by a Lado lay-up with seven seconds left to cut ASU's lead to 93-91. Following Lado's basket, Tapia stepped to the line and made 1-of-2 free throws to take a 94-91 lead to set up Muldrew's game-tying free throws to force overtime.

Tapia finished with a game-high 29 points, including going 12-for-14 from the free throw line, while Wyatt Helming added 21 points and had six boards in the win. In addition, Alexander added 19 points, while Randle had 17 points off the bench and Harge added 14 points. The Grizzlies' bench outscored the Pack's bench, 42-39. 

For the game, the Pack shot 53 percent from the field and were 9-for-26 (34.6 percent) from the 3-point line, while ASU shot 48.6 percent and 25 percent (8-for-32) from the three-point line.

The biggest difference came at the free throw line as ASU finished the game 37-for-41 (90.2 percent) at the line, while the Pack was 15-for-17 (88.2 percent) from the line as the teams were whistled for a combined 43 fouls as the Pack was called for 28 fouls and ASU had 15 fouls. 

ASU held a 40-35, including a 14-11 advantage on the offensive glass. In addition, the Pack finished with 12 turnovers which led to 16 points for the Grizzlies, while ASU had 10 turnovers that led to eight points for the Pack. Both teams blocked three shots. 

The Pack will return home to close out the season next weekend as they host MSU Denver for a 7:30 p.m. game on Thursday, Feb. 27, and then conclude the 2024-25 season with a 6 p.m. Senior Night game on Saturday, March 1 against seventh-ranked Colorado School of Mines.