Men’s basketball won their first two RMAC conference games on Dec. 3-4 against CSU Pueblo and Adams State University, pushing their overall record to 7-1.
The game on Dec. 3 against the CSU Pueblo ThunderWolves started out fast; the Mountain Lions grabbed a 42-24 lead and took control of the game early on.
Ten of the team’s first 12 points came from sophomore guard Alijah Comithier. He finished the half with 18 points, shooting 58% from the field.
The ThunderWolves struggled as UCCS held them to a shooting percentage of 37% from the field.
UCCS continued to push their lead forward into the second half by grabbing a commanding 21 rebounds with 17 on the defensive end. The Mountain Lions ended the game shooting 50% from the field with more help from Comithier, who put up another 12 points before the end of the game.
CSU Pueblo ended the game by putting together a 14-4 run of their own, but the Mountain Lions won the game 76-59, taking their first conference win of the season.
UCCS then turned around and headed to Alamosa to face Adams State University. The game was tight through the first half with both teams trading buckets for most of the duration.
ASU took the lead twice in the first half but did not hold it for long. Junior guard Jon’il Fugett and redshirt senior guard Geoff Kelly hit back-to-back threes to start an 8-0 UCCS run.
UCCS held the lead for the remainder of the half with redshirt sophomore guard Bobby Martin leading the way and shooting a perfect 4-4 from the field, followed by senior center Jonnie Jones III who grabbed five rebounds in the half.
The half came to a close with a buzzer-beater three from Fugett, giving UCCS the 41-33 lead. Coming out of the half, UCCS continued to put on a show as Comithier and Fugett combined for 20 points and two steals.
Despite UCCS leading by a large margin for most of the second half, ASU managed to close the gap to a nine-point deficit at the 1:06 mark, setting the game up for a competitive finale.
ASU put together a run ending with a four-point play off and made a three pointer to bring the score to 79-73 with 34 seconds left. With the game coming to a close in such tight fashion, UCCS was pushed to the foul line knocking down 6-of-6 and pushing the game out of reach for ASU, giving them the 85-78 win.
Comithier ended the game with his first career double-double with a 23 point and career high 10 rebound performance, followed by Fugett who ended with 16 points shooting 62% from the field.
UCCS will be back at home on Dec. 11 to face the Colorado School of Mines and attempt to push their record to 8-1.
