GUNNISON, Colo. --- The Western Colorado men's basketball team drained nine second-half 3-pointers and had an answer for each Westminster run as the Mountaineers defeated the Griffins 78-74 Friday night at Paul Wright Gym.

The Mountaineers (3-6 overall, 3-5 RMAC) led Westminster (5-5, 5-5) 35-30 at the half before the Griffins went on a 14-1 run to take a 45-41 lead with 14:51 left in the game.

Western answered with a 10-0 run of its own highlighted by 3-pointers from Matthew Ragsdale and Grant Wilkinson and the run was capped by an Elijah Davidson bucket in the paint with 11:03 left to give the Mountaineers a 51-45 advantage. 

The Western lead grew to 66-54 with 4:14 remaining after 3-pointers on consecutive possessions by Cole Sienknecht, Ragsdale and Jaelan McCloud. The Mountaineers held on from there despite a late run in the final minute by the Griffins to make the final margin of victory four.

The Mountaineers went 9-for-18 from 3-point range in the second half and 13-for-30 overall in the contest. Overall, the Mountaineers shot 48.1 percent from the field. The Griffins shot 50 percent from the field and were 8-for-23 (34.8 percent) from 3-point range.

Ragsdale led the Mountaineers with 21 points, going 4-for-10 from 3-point range, while grabbing five rebounds. Avery Rembao also went 4-for-10 from long distance and had 19 points and Sienknecht was 3-for-5 from 3 and had 14 points and three assists. Grant Wilkinson had a solid all-around game with seven points, seven rebounds and a Western-high six assists while Jackson Ehrlin had six points, a team-high eight rebounds and two blocked shots.

Brandon Willardson and Brayden Johnson led five Griffins in double figures with 13 points apiece. 

The Mountaineers host No. 6 Colorado Mesa 6 p.m. Saturday at Paul Wright Gym.