PUEBLO, Colo. – The Colorado State University Pueblo men's basketball team will look to continue its late-season surge on Friday evening as the No. 3 seed ThunderWolves take on No. 2 seed Colorado Mesa in the semifinals of the 2026 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Tournament presented by Under Armour. Tip-off is scheduled for 5 p.m. at the Donald E. Young Center in Spearfish, S.D.

The winner of Friday's first semifinal will advance to the RMAC Championship game on Saturday at 7 p.m. against either No. 1 seed and 13th-ranked Black Hills State or No. 4 seed Fort Lewis, who meet in Friday's second semifinal game at 7 p.m.

CSU Pueblo enters the match-up with a 22-7 overall record and tied for second in the RMAC standings with a 15-5 record, and extended its win streak to nine straight games after collecting an 82-70 win in Tuesday's quarterfinal round game in Massari Arena, while Colorado Mesa comes into the semifinals with a 20-9 overall and tied for second in the league with a 15-5 record and advanced to the semifinals with a 91-90 home overtime win in Tuesday's quarterfinal round in Grand Junction, Colo.

Tuesday's win, which helped the Pack finish 14-2 at home this season and end the year winning its final 10 home games, was also the first for the Pack in the RMAC Tournament in 11 years as the Pack last won a tournament game on March 3, 2015 at Massari Arena as they defeated Fort Lewis, 72-63, in the quarterfinals of the 2015 RMAC Tournament. Since that win, the Pack, which is making just its third tournament appearance since 2017, had lost four straight tournament games, including a 102-96 loss at Fort Lewis in the quarterfinals of the 2024 RMAC Tournament.

The ThunderWolves are currently riding one of the hottest stretches in Division II basketball, winning nine consecutive games and 15 of their last 18 contests dating back to the beginning of the 2026 calendar year. The nine-game win streak is tied for the eighth-longest active streak in NCAA Division II men's basketball.

CSU Pueblo has relied on balanced scoring throughout the season, led by sophomore guard/forward Jordan Blair (Keller, Texas/Keller Central), who averages a team-high 13.5 points and 6.4 rebounds per game and tallied a team-high 20 points in the quarterfinal round win over Mines. Junior guard Dylan Sanders (Aurora, Colo./Pearl River CC) adds 11.2 points per game and has scored in double figures in eight of his last nine outings, while redshirt junior guard Jaden Kennis (Windsor, Colo./MSU Denver) contributes 11.5 points and 5.5 rebounds per contest and is coming off a double-double of 12 points and 10 rebounds in Tuesday's RMAC Tournament quarterfinal win over Mines.

Colorado Mesa is led by forward Ty Allred, who averages 18.9 points and 7.4 rebounds per game and scored 35 points in the overtime win in Tuesday's quarterfinal game against New Mexico Highlands. Guards Cohenj Gonzales and Harvey White also average double figures, scoring 10.9 and 10.8 points per game, respectively. In fact, the Mavericks have six players averaging in double figures on the season.

Friday's game will mark the latest chapter in a long-standing series between the two programs. Colorado Mesa holds a 55-36 advantage in the all-time series and has won the last 10 meetings, including a 70-66 victory over the ThunderWolves in Grand Junction on Jan. 29 in the team lone meeting during the regular season.

In that earlier match-up this season against the Mavericks, the Pack led for more than 27 minutes and built an 11-point lead early in the second half before Colorado Mesa rallied late, scoring six of the final seven points to secure the 70-66 comeback win in Brownson Arena.

Freshman guard Bryce Riehl (Colorado Springs, Colo./Mesa Ridge) paced the Pack offensively with 15 points after going 5-for-9 from 3-point range, while Blair and redshirt guard/forward Corbin Garver (Colorado Springs, Colo./Air Academy) each added 12 points as the Pack's bench outscored Mesa's bench, 38-8.

In the loss, the Pack shot 43.5 percent from the field and knocked down 14 3-pointers, but Colorado Mesa closed strong behind Allred's game-high 20 points.

Despite the recent history in the match-up, the ThunderWolves enter the semifinals playing their best basketball of the season and looking to advance to their first RMAC Tournament championship game since 1998. CSU Pueblo is seeking its third conference tournament title in program history and first since 1988. The Pack were the RMAC Tournament runners-up in 1998.

The semifinal game will be broadcast live on the RMAC Network and can also be heard locally on Fox Sports Pueblo 1350 AM with CSU Pueblo Hall of Famer Jim Brooks providing the play-by-play coverage.

If the ThunderWolves secure the victory, they will play for the RMAC Championship and the conference's automatic berth into the NCAA Division II Tournament on Saturday night. In this week's latest NCAA Division II South Central Regional rankings, the Pack is ranked No. 10.