Two made free throws by forward William Becker in the game’s final seconds clinched a close game for the Mountain Lions, 81-78, against New Mexico Highlands Cowboys on Jan. 23.
With 14:42 left in the first half, UCCS gained the lead, 14-13, thanks to two free throws made by senior guard Hannes Saar, and held it the rest of the game. A late rally by the Cowboys in the second half shrunk the lead to a one-possession game.
Entering the final seven seconds of playtime, the Mountain Lions had just a single point lead, 78-77. Those seven seconds would take the next ten minutes to complete.
The chaos began with a game clock error when guard Jezza Mckenzie was blocked with 7.3 seconds to go and 1.5 seconds on the shot clock. After a review, officials pushed the clock back to 7.8, with 2 seconds on the shot clock. Returning to gameplay, UCCS guard Hannes Saar threw the basketball to Becker.
After Becker went up for a failed shot, the game clocks stopped once again with just 3.3 seconds left. After another review, time was added back to the clock, putting it at 4.7 seconds. Saar got the ball for another throw in, cleanly passing to Becker as Becker was fouled by Cowboy Blessin Kimble with 3.7 seconds to go. That foul gave Becker two free throw attempts, both of which were made, giving the Mountain Lions a three-point lead, 80-77.
After Becker’s free throws, UCCS immediately called their final timeout, which was then followed by the Cowboys calling a timeout just eight tenths of a second into the game’s return. During the Cowboys timeout, officials determined that the game clock should be reset from 2.9 to 3.2 seconds.
Cowboy KJ Lemonte threw the ball in after the timeout, and at 1.1 seconds, Saar fouled Cowboy Daniel Rosenber which gave him a one-and-one free throw attempt. Rosenber made the first but purposefully missed the second while incurring a lane violation penalty to stop the clock.
Following the penalty, Saar threw the ball back into play, and, with just a tenth of a second left in the game, UCCS point guard Santiago Ochoa was fouled and awarded two free throws. Ochoa missed the first and made the second, bringing the final score to 81-78.
Becker has been on fire this season, breaking the UCCS all-time blocks record on Jan. 18 — previously held by current Boston Celtics point guard and UCCS alum Derrick White — while still being an offensive force. He’s led the team in points scored in four RMAC games this season, including the game against the Cowboys, in which he scored 23 points, eight more than the next highest-scoring Mountain Lion Hannes Saar. Becker was responsible for the most field goals (seven), free throws (nine), rebounds (ten) and the team’s only blocks (three).
Following their victory against the Cowboys, the Mountain Lions fell to the Fort Lewis Skyhawks on Jan. 25, 85-82. The Mountain Lions play next against the Western Colorado Mountaineers on Jan. 30 at home