GUNNISON, Colo. --- Shorthanded and holding on to a three-point lead in the final seconds of what was once a 17-point advantage, the Western Colorado men's basketball team dodged overtime as a desperation 3-pointer by Chadron State at the buzzer was off the mark and the Mountaineers came away with a 69-66 victory Friday night at Paul Wright Gym.

WCU (4-5 overall, 1-2 RMAC) was playing without key freshmen Josh Tomasi and Matthew Ragsdale due to illness and over came it by coming out on fire in the first half - draining 8 of 14 3-pointers to take a 43-32 lead into the half. The lead would've been larger but the Eagles (2-7, 1-2) drained a 3-pointer with 36 seconds left in the half before hitting a near three-quarter court shot at the buzzer to make it an 11-point game at the break.

The Mountaineers were able to keep the Eagles at a distance for much of the second half - but a layup by CSC with 6:20 remaining made it 62-56 WCU. The Mountaineers answered with a quick 5-0 run capped by a James Willis 3-pointer with 4:46 left to make it 67-56.

The Eagles didn't go away, however, as they had the lead down to three points with 1:06 remaining and down to one with three seconds left at 67-66 and were forced to foul. But WCU's Cole Sienknecht calmly drained two free throws to make it a three-point game and CSC's desperation 3-pointer missed its target and the Mountaineers came away with their first RMAC win of the season.


Five players finished in double figures for WCU with Willis leading the way with 16 points - going 5-for-6 from 3-point range. Monroe Porter and Sienknecht had 12 points apiece  (with Sienknecht adding a team-high five assists) while Jackson Ehrlin had 11 points and eight rebounds and Connor Shaw had 11 points, including going 3-for-3 from 3-point range.

As a team the Mountaineers finished 13-for-24 (54.2 percent) from 3-point range - helping increase their field goal percentage to 42.2 percent. They also went 18-for-21 from the free-throw line.

WCU returns to action 7 p.m. Saturday against MSU Denver at Paul Wright Gym.