PUEBLO, Colo. Down by 18-points in the beginning of the second half. Western Colorado battled back and got within four-points of tying the game. However, that was the closest they would as they fell 50-59 to Colorado State University Pueblo.
 
JUST THE FACTS
Final Score: CSU Pueblo def., Western Colorado 59-50.
Records: Western Colorado 3-11, 1-9 RMAC, CSU Pueblo 9-8, 5-6 RMAC
Location: Massari Arena; Pueblo, Colo.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED

• Things didn't start good for Western as CSU Pueblo's offense came out ready to go, outscoring the Mountaineers 6-16 (15:15) to start the game. Down 12-23 with 7:52 left to go before halftime, Western went on a 5-0 run led by a Gino Corridori layup and Grant Wilkinson three-pointer.
• The Thunderwolves responded quickly and increased their lead to as high as 17-points. But, before the first half ended, Mason Black knocked down a jumper cutting the lead to 21-36. At halftime, Kade Juelfs was the leading scorer for Western contributing six-points.
• Down 21-36 to start the second half, the Mountaineers cut CSU Pueblo's lead to 34-47 at the 10:58 mark of the half, on a Robel Desta jumper. Nearly two minutes later, Gino Corridori helped trim the lead to 12-points on a layup.
• Western continued to slowly chip away at the lead as Jaelan McCloud made two free throws, leading to the Thunderwolves having a 38-49 lead – 7:09 left to go in the game.
• With 5:21 left to go, Avery Rembao dunked on a CSU Pueblo defender, cutting the Thunderwolves lead to nine-points. Then Jaelan McCloud drained a three-pointer, putting the Mountaineers down 43-49.
• Rembao helped keep Western's 11-2 run going, making a layup which put the score at 45-49, in favor of CSU Pueblo.
• The Thunderwolves managed to increase their lead to seven-points on three straight successful free throws. But, that lead didn't hold for long thanks to a Rembao three-pointer, that resulted in the score reading 48-52 on the scoreboard.
• Unfortunately, that was the closest the Mountaineers got from tying the game, for the remainder of the game.

COURT NOTES

• Rembao was the leading scorer for Western, dropping 14-points and a team high six assists. Andrew Reichart came off the bench an led the team with a career high 11 rebounds. Corridori was close to double digit rebounds, grabbing eight boards.
• As a whole, the Mountaineers shot, 31.6 percent (18-of-57) from the field, 28.6 percent (8-of-28) from three and 54.5 percent (6-of-11) from the free throw line.
• Lian Ramiro and Makiah Morris were the leading scorers for CSU Pueblo, recording 16 and 14-points.
• As a whole, the Thunderwolves shot, 32.1 percent (17-of-53) from the field, 25 percent (4-of-16) from three and 65.6 percent (21-of-32) from the free throw line.

UP NEXT
Western will be home for their next two games against Metropolitan State University of Denver (Jan. 20) and Colorado School of Mines (Jan. 21).