PUEBLO, Colo. – Colorado State University Pueblo men's basketball used a dominant second-half shooting performance here Thursday evening as the ThunderWolves picked up an impressive 82-61 win over Fort Lewis College in Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference action at Massari Arena.
With the victory, the Pack extends its win streak to seven straight games and improves to 20-7 overall and 14-5 in the RMAC, while Fort Lewis fell to 16-10 overall and 14-5 in the league. The win, which moved the Pack into a tie with Fort Lewis for third place in the league standings, also helped the Pack lock up a home game on Tuesday, March 3, in the quarterfinals of the 2026 RMAC Tournament presented by Under Armour for the first time since 2016-17.
CSU Pueblo's seven-game win streak is the longest since winning eight consecutive games during the 2014-15 season and is tied for the 14th-longest active win streak in Division II. In addition, the Pack improved to 12-2 at home and has now won eight straight home games.
The win was also the first 20-win season for CSU Pueblo since the 2014-15 team finished with a 21-9 overall record. In addition, it is just the seventh 20-win season since becoming a four-year school in 1963-64.
CSU Pueblo set the tone early, closing the first half on a 14-3 run to take a 34-20 lead into the break after holding the Skyhawks to just 35.0 percent shooting in the opening 20 minutes (7-for-20).
The Pack never looked back, coming out of halftime, shooting a blistering 66.7 percent from the field and matching that mark from beyond the arc (8-for-12) in the second half to extend the lead to as many as 30 points midway through the period following a trey from junior guard Cash Callaway (Pasco, Wash./South Mountain CC).
Redshirt junior guard Jaden Kennis (Windsor, Colo./MSU Denver) led all scorers with 19 points on 5-of-10 shooting from the field and a perfect 7-for-7 effort at the free throw line. Junior guard Dylan Sanders (Aurora, Colo./Pearl River CC) added 16 points behind four made 3-pointers, including scoring 11 of the Pack's 34 first half points, while sophomore guard/forward Jordan Blair (Keller, Texas/Keller Central) had 10 points and five assists as the Pack finished the game shooting 56.9 percent (29-for-51) from the field and 46.4 percent (13-for-38) from long range as a team.
Senior Sam Howery (Colorado Springs, Colo./St. Mary's) orchestrated the offense with a game-high and career-high seven assists, helping the ThunderWolves finish with a season-high 28 assists on 29 made field goals and held a 42-19 advantage in bench scoring.
Fort Lewis, which has now lost two straight games to the Pack, was led by Stewart Erhart's 15 points and Jaxon Smith's 14, but the Skyhawks were limited to just 20.0 percent shooting from three-point range (3-for-15) and trailed for more than 34 minutes of game time.
CSU Pueblo also converted 15 fast-break points and forced key scoring runs throughout the second half to seal the 21-point conference home victory.
Both teams committed nine turnovers, and each team scored eight points off those turnovers, while the Pack held a 32-27 advantage on the boards, including those six boards by Kennis.
Neither team was strong at the free throw as the Pack was 11-for-16 (68.8 percent) at the line and Fort Lewis was 16-for-23 (69.6 percent).
The Pack will close out the 2025-26 regular season on Saturday, Feb. 28, as they host Adams State (18-9 overall, 12-7 RMAC) for a 3 p.m. Senior Day game in Massari Arena. Before Saturday's game, the Pack will honor its four-member senior class in a pregame ceremony. This year's seniors are Howery, guard Landen Dvorsky (Colorado Springs, Colo./Liberty), forward Andon Mindrup (Colorado Springs, Colo./St. Mary's), and center Kaleb Mitchell (Fountain, Colo./Northern State).
