Never without the lead, the Mountain Lions held strong in their game against the Colorado Mesa Mavericks at the Gallogly Event Center, beating them by 14 points, 71-57, on Feb. 1.
Within the first three minutes, UCCS’ defense pulled through, not letting the Mavericks score, while also gaining a substantial 7-0 lead. The Mavericks began to chip away at the deficit, but the Mountain Lions were still leading, 12-6, with 5:28 left in the half.
UCCS launched another attack, going on a 12-point streak and not allowing the Mavericks to score. Following the streak, Colorado Mesa called a timeout, and they began to double guard sophomore point guard Xavier Martinez after he scored 12 points in the first half alone. The first half ended with UCCS having a significant 17-point lead, 38-21.
The beginning of the second half mirrored the first in momentum. UCCS began the period with redshirt sophomore forward Derik Pranger running down the court for an easy layup, scoring the first points for the Mountain Lions in the period and bringing the score to 40-23.
Keeping a consistent back and forth, Pranger juked back behind the three-point line, stumbling the Mavericks defender in front of him and sunk the three to give UCCS a 20-point lead, 47-27, with 15:35 still left in the game.
Colorado Mesa kept the pressure up, bringing down the Mountain Lions lead to just 10 points with seven minutes left, but UCCS was too far gone. The Mountain Lions won with a final score of 71-57.
Martinez led the team in scoring with 17 points. No Colorado Mesa player put up double digits this game. The Mountain Lions led in every statistic against Colorado Mesa; field goal percentage, three-point shooting percentage, free throw percentage, rebounds, turnovers and steals. UCCS is now 13-7 overall with a 7-5 conference record.
Men’s basketball head coach Jeff Culver obtained his 199th career win at UCCS during the game and is looking to find the 200th when the Mountain Lions play next at South Dakota Mines on Feb. 6.