GUNNISON, Colo. --- The Western Colorado men's basketball team did everything it could to make a late-season, postseason push - including breaking a six-game losing streak to Colorado Mesa 87-76 Friday at Paul Wright Gym for its sixth win in a row.
But it just wasn't enough as a Regis victory eliminated the Mountaineers from the eighth-and-final postseason spot in the RMAC Tournament.
However, one can't say WCU (14-14 overall, 11-11 RMAC) didn't go down swinging - including a strong performance Friday on Senior Night, led by senior
Monroe Porter.
Porter led the Mountaineers with 22 points, 15 rebounds, six assists, two steals and a block in his final game at Paul Wright Gym as the 6-foot-3 guard finishes his career in the top 10 in program history in games played, rebounds (third) and assists.
The Mountaineers, who led 41-36 at the half, found themselves down 58-57 with 9:42 remaining before back-to-back buckets by Porter ignited a 12-0 run over the next two-plus minutes - capped by back-to-back 3-pointers from
Will Willis and
Cole Sienknecht to make it 69-58 with 7:15 remaining.
The lead grew to as large as 14 points and never fewer than seven points the rest of the way as WCU picked up its first win over CMU since Nov. 29, 2016. This includes losing the Mavs by 22 points earlier this season in Grand Junction.
Freshman
Matthew Ragsdale added 17 points for the Mountaineers while Sienknecht - a sophomore - had 16 points.
The Mountaineers shot 52.6 percent from the field, including going 12-for-28 (42.9 percent) from 3-point range while also going 15-for-18 from the free-throw line.
WCU honored its two seniors
Monroe Porter and
James Willis (who finished his career with 111 games played - third on the Mountaineer all-time list) prior to the game.
The 14 wins equals the most for the program since winning 18 games during the 1998-99 season (when head coach
Bradd Schafer was a player for the Mountaineers). The Mountaineers also won 14 games in 2008-09. The 11 RMAC wins this season is also tied for the most since that 1998-99 season when the Mountaineers went 14-5 in RMAC play.
