PUEBLO, Colo.  – The Colorado State University Pueblo men's basketball team closed the 2025-26 regular season here Saturday afternoon with a 70-68 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference win over Adams State thanks to a game-winning jumper from about 17 feet with 1.7 seconds left from junior guard Dylan Sanders (Aurora, Colo./Pearl River CC) on Senior Day in Massari Arena.

Before Saturday's game, the Pack recognized its four-member senior class in a pregame ceremony. The Pack's four seniors this season are guard Landen Dvorsky (Colorado Springs, Colo./Liberty), guard Sam Howery (Colorado Springs, Colo./St. Mary's), forward Andon Mindrup (Colorado Springs, Colo./St. Mary's), and center Kaleb Mitchell (Fountain, Colo./Northern State).

Saturday's win was the eighth straight for the Pack and moved their record to 21-7 overall and 15-5 in the RMAC, while Adams State fell to 18-10 overall, 12-8 in the league. The eight-game win streak is the longest for the Pack since also winning eight straight games in 2014-15 and tied for the 11th longest active win streak in Division II men's basketball, and was also the Pack's ninth straight home victory as they moved to 13-2 at home this season.

The win, coupled with Colorado Mesa's 74-65 loss at 14th-ranked Black Hills State and Fort Lewis' 83-64 win at Colorado Christian, meant the Pack finished the RMAC regular season tied for second in the league standings, but earned the No. 3 seed in the RMAC Tournament due to its 70-66 loss earlier this season at Colorado Mesa and will host No. 6 seeded Colorado School of Mines in a tournament quarterfinal game on Tuesday, March 3 at 7 p.m. The tie for second place is the best conference finish for the Pack since finishing third with a 17-5 record in 2016-17.

CSU Pueblo's 21 wins this season are the most in a season since the 2014-15 squad posted a 21-9 overall record. The Pack has now won 21 games in a season five times in the school's four-year era (1963-present).

With the score tied at 68, Sanders took a pass from sophomore guard Mac Terry (Castle Pines, Colo./South Dakota Mines) and drilled a shot just behind the free throw line to give the Pack a 70-68 lead with 1.5 seconds left. On the ensuing in-bounds play from ASU, Sanders collected a steal right past mid-court to seal the team's 21st win of the season.  

Sanders led all scorers with 22 points, including the decisive bucket in the closing moments. He scored 12 of those points in the second half. In addition to Sanders, Terry added 12 points, along with four assists and no turnovers in 36 minutes of action, while redshirt junior guard Jaden Kennis (Windsor, Colo./MSU Denver) added nine points and five rebounds off the bench. The Pack's leading scorer on the season, sophomore guard/forward Jordan Blair (Keller, Texas/Keller Central) was held to just four points and had eight rebounds and three assists before fouling out late in the game. Blair entered Saturday's game averaging 13.6 points per game.

The Grizzlies carried a 33-30 advantage into halftime after holding CSU Pueblo to 38.7 percent shooting in the opening period, but the Pack responded in the second half, outscoring Adams State 40-35 over the final 20 minutes as they shot 52 percent from the field and 38 percent from the 3-point line.

CSU Pueblo opened the second half on a 10-6 run to turn a 3-point deficit into a 40-39 lead following a basket by Terry with 15:41 left in the game. ASU would come right back, retake the lead at 41-40 following a lay-up from Luke Williams with 13:50 remaining.

The Pack, though, responded with a 15-6 run capped by a Sanders trey to push out to a 55-47 advantage with 9:06 left. The run began with five straight points from redshirt sophomore forward Ty Adam (Severance, Colo./Severance) and was capped by a dunk from Blair and Sanders' trey. Blair's dunk was his first points of the game.

ASU, which earned the No. 5 seed in the RMAC Tournament, wouldn't go away as it used an 11-3 run to retie the game at 58 with 6:03 remaining. The run was keyed by seven points from Wyatt Helming, who finished with 17 points for the Grizzlies, including going 7-for-7 from the free throw line.

The Pack, though, retook the lead on a Kennis trey with 4:30 left and after two free throws by Williams brought the Grizzlies within a point at 61-60. Blair scored on a jumper with 3:56 left to give the Pack a 63-60 lead, but a trey from Helming with 3:40 remaining tied the game at 63.

After Sanders made three of four free throws to take a 66-63 lead with 2:26 left, Helming was fouled on a 3-point shot attempt by Adam and stepped to the line and made three free throws to tie the game at 66 with 2:13 remaining.

Junior forward Kyren Allen (Commerce City, Colo./Trinidad State) gave the Pack a 68-66 lead following a tip-in with 1:30 left, before ASU's Williams made two free throws with 16 seconds to tie the score at 68 and set up Sanders' game-winning shot.

Williams paced Adams State with 19 points, added five rebounds, and four assists, while Dillan Baker was the third ASU player in double figures with 15 points.

CSU Pueblo finished the contest shooting 45.0 percent (27-of-60) from the floor and held a 34-18 edge in points in the paint, along with a 15-5 advantage in second-chance points as the Pack had 10 offensive rebounds. The Pack also shot 28.6 percent (8-for-28) from the 3-point line in the win.

ASU finished the day shooting 40 percent from the field and 40 percent from the 3-point line.

The ThunderWolves also converted 15 points off 10 ASU turnovers to help offset 21 team fouls that led to 33 free throws for the Grizzlies. ASU was 24-for-33 (72.7 percent) from the free-throw line. The Pack was just 8-for-13 (61.5 percent) from the free-throw line.

In a back-and-forth affair that featured eight ties and eight lead changes, neither team led by more than eight points. The Pack led for nearly 17 minutes, while ASU held the lead for a little over 16 minutes.

Here is the complete schedule for the 2026 RMAC Men's Basketball Tournament presented by Under Armour.

Quarterfinals – Tuesday, March 3
Game 1: #8 seed UCCS at #1 seed Black Hills State, 7 p.m.
Game 2: #5 seed Adams State at #4 seed Fort Lewis, 6 p.m.
Game 3: #7 seed New Mexico Highlands at #2 seed Colorado Mesa, 7:30 p.m.
Game 4: #6 seed Mines at #3 seed CSU Pueblo, 7 p.m.

Semifinals – Friday, March 6 (Site of the highest remaining seeded team)
Game 5: Winner Game 1 vs. Winner Game 2, TBA
Game 6: Winner Game 3 vs. Winner Game 4, TBA

Finals – Saturday, March 7
Game 7: Winner Game 5 vs. Winner Game 6, TBA
(Winner receives RMAC's automatic bid to the NCAA D-II Men's Basketball Championships)