PUEBLO, Colo. – The Colorado State University Pueblo men's basketball team used a dominant second half and a season-high tying 13 made three-pointers to post a resounding 70-49 victory over Colorado Christian in Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference action at Massari Arena.
With the win, the ThunderWolves improve to 10-4 overall and 4-2 in the RMAC, while CCU fell to 6-8 overall and 1-5 in the league. It was the earliest 10th in a season for the Pack since the 2016-17 squad needed 15 games into the season to win 10 games. The Pack also moved into a four-way tie for third place in the league standings.
The Pack, who led 30-24 at the half, outscored the Cougars 40-25 in the second half as they shot 58 percent from the field and 50 percent (8-for-16) from the 3-point line in the final 20 minutes of action. Meanwhile, the Pack defense held CCU to just 36 percent shooting from the field and 23 percent (3-for-13) from the 3-point line after halftime.
Sophomore guard/forward Jordan Blair (Keller, Texas/Keller Central) paced a balanced Pack offensive attack with 14 points and added five rebounds and a career-high eight assists. In addition to Blair, junior forward Kyren Allen (Commerce City, Colo./Trinidad State) added 12 points on 6-for-6 shooting from the field off the bench, while junior guard Dylan Sanders (Aurora, Colo./Pearl River CC) tallied 10 points off the bench as the Pack bench held a 37-7 edge in the game.
In addition to the three double-digit scorers, freshman guard Bryce Riehl (Colorado Springs, Colo./Mesa Ridge) made three treys off the bench for nine points, while redshirt junior guard Jaden Kennis (Windsor, Colo./MSU Denver) also had nine points and eight rebounds.
Sophomore guard Mac Terry (Castle Pines, Colo./South Dakota Mines) dished out a career-high nine assists and had three steals as the Pack finished with a season-high 25 assists on 26 made baskets.
After CCU scored the first basket of the second half, the Pack responded with a 21-5 run to turn a 30-26 game into a 51-31 lead for the Pack. The run began with a lay-up from Allen and was capped by a trey from junior guard Cash Callaway (Pasco, Wash./South Mountain CC) with 10:48 left in the game.
The Cougars, though, answered back with an 8-2 run keyed by five points from Schafer Reichart to drop the Pack's lead to 53-39 with 8:45 remaining. That would be as close as CCU would get as the Pack came right and used a 17-10 run over the next seven-plus minutes to push out to a 70-49 lead after a lay-up from Blair with 64 seconds left.
Pierce Bazil paced the Cougars with 16 points, while Porter Bazil added 10 points and five rebounds, and Joshua Reed tallied nine points and had a game-high 10 rebounds.
CCU held leads of 2-0, 4-3, 6-5, 9-7, and 14-12 in the opening 10-plus minutes of the game, before the Pack used a 7-0 run to take a 19-14 following a trey by Terry with 6:15 left in the opening half.
After CCU scored four straight points to cut the Pack's lead to 19-18, the ThunderWolves closed the opening half on an 11-6 run to take their 30-24 halftime lead. The run was capped by a triple from Blair right before the first half buzzer.
For the game, the Pack shot 49.1 percent from the field and 46.4 percent (13-for-28) from the 3-point line and held a 33-29 edge on the boards. The Pack forced 11 CCU turnovers that led to 11 points. CCU scored 14 points off the Pack's nine turnovers.
Both teams struggled at the line as the Pack was 5-for-10 (50 percent) at the free throw line, while CCU was 12-for-20 (60 percent) at the line.
The Pack, who have now won three straight games to open the New Year, returns to action next Thursday, Jan. 15, as they host Colorado School of Mines (8-9 overall, 4-2 RMAC) for a 7:30 p.m. RMAC tilt in Massari Arena. The Orediggers have won four straight games, including collecting an 88-72 home win on Saturday over South Dakota Mines.
