GUNNISON, Colo. --- Much like Friday night in a victory over Chadron State, the Western Colorado men's basketball team took a double-digit first-half lead against MSU Denver and saw it dwindle away in the second half.
Unlike Friday, the Roadrunners actually took the lead late thanks to a pair of free throws with 34 seconds left to make it 63-62.
But the Mountaineers again found a way as
Will Willis grabbed an offensive rebound in the final seconds and scored just as the buzzer sounded to give WCU a 64-63 win Saturday at Paul Wright Gym.
WCU (5-5 overall, 2-2 RMAC) led right from the opening tip as a pair of
Cole Sienknecht 3-pointers in the first two minutes made it 6-2. The lead grew to as much as 13 points in the first half for the Mountaineers over MSU Denver (5-5, 1-3) and settled at 10 points at 35-25 going into the break.
The lead grew back to 13 points at 46-33 at the 14:46 mark for WCU before th Roadrunners began to slowly chip away, tying the game six minutes later at 48-48 after a 15-2 run that was finally ended by a Willis 3-pointer with 7:56 remaining to give WCU the lead back.
The game remained close the rest of the way with MSU Denver tying it 61-61 with 2:28 left after a Maris Colton 3-pointer. A
Jackson Ehrlin free throw at the 1:38 mark gave WCU a one-point advantage before a pair of Roadrunner free throws with 34 seconds left gave them a 63-62 advantage.
Willis missed a 3-pointer with 16 seconds left, but the Mountaineers got the ball back with 11 seconds remaining with one more chance. Sienknecht took a jumper from near the elbow, but it was off the mark and the ball was loose with bodies laying in the paint before Willis picked it up and scored as the buzzer sounded to give the Mountaineers the win and the sweep of the weekend to even their RMAC record at 2-2.
Willis came off the bench and scored 10 points and grabbed five rebounds for the Mountaineers. Sienknecht - despite foul trouble - had 14 points while
Monroe Porter had 13 points and a team-high seven rebounds. As a team, the Mountaineers shot 41.7 percent from the field - and for the second night in a row - hit 13 3-pointers (shooting 41.9 percent).
Defensively, the Mountaineers held the Roadrunners to 36.4 percent shooting from the field and benefited from MSU Denver going 15-for-25 from the free-throw line.
WCU hits the road to take on Colorado Mesa 7:30 p.m. Friday in Grand Junction.
