LAKEWOOD, Colo. Western Colorado was in the game for the majority of it. Yet, Colorado Christian University did just enough to stop the Mountaineers from gaining momentum and taking over the game, leading to Western falling 81-94.
 
JUST THE FACTS
Final Score: Colorado Christian def.; Western Colorado 94-81.
Records: Western Colorado 3-15, 1-15 RMAC, Colorado Christian 9-14, 5-11 RMAC
Location: CCU Event Center; Lakewood, Colo.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED

• Early on things were pretty even for both teams as they exchanged baskets for the first five minutes and 30 seconds of the ball game.  Avery Rembao would give the Mountaineers their first lead (9-8) of the game at the 14:30 mark, by draining a three-pointer. Those three-points also put Rembao over 1,000 career points in his career.
• Colorado Christian responded right away with an 8-2 run, which gave them a five-point lead. A minute and 32 seconds later, the Cougars up by six-points, a Rembao and-one conversion trimmed Colorado Christians lead to 18-15.
• The Cougars increased their lead to nine-points after that. However, Western continued to fight and would cut Colorado Christian's lead to four-points, twice in the first half. Unfortunately, every time the Mountaineers got close, the Cougars responded quickly and increased their lead. At halftime Western trailed, 38-45.
• The Mountaineers did a better job keeping up with Colorado Christian in the second half, leading to the Cougars lead being in single digits for the majority of the second half.
• The closest Western got to the lead is five-points, which happened three times – first time on a Kade Juelfs free throw (18:36), which was followed up with a Juelfs three-pointer (19:18) and the final time coming after a Rembao and-one conversion (15:45).
• Yet similar to the first half, every time Western got close to the lead the Cougars offense responded and did just enough to keep the Mountaineers from gaining momentum.
• With 6:59 left to play Rembao would be sent to the free throw line and knocked down both shots, cutting Colorado Christian's lead to seven-points.
• The Cougars locked in down the stretch and would never let Western cut the lead to single digits again, allowing them to walk away with the victory.

COURT NOTES

• Rembao shouldered the scoring load for the Mountaineers dropping 24-points in the game. Trevin Lieck (16-points), Grant Wilkinson (11-points) and Kade Juelfs (11-points) also were a threat on the offensive end, each scoring double figures. Jonathan McCloud led the team in rebounds grabbing four in the game.
• As a team, Western shot 45.1 percent (23-of-51) from the field, 30 percent (6-of-20) from three and 82.9 percent (29-of-35) from the free throw line.
• For Colorado Christian, DJ McDonald and Jason Gallant took the game over on the offensive side, McDonald scoring 27-points and Gallant scoring 22-points. Noah Kon and Isaiah Alonzo also were threats on offense, pitching in with 17 and 13-points.
• As a team, the Cougars shot 55 percent (33-of-60) from the field, 40 percent (8-of-20) from three and 83.3 percent (20-of-24) from the free throw line.

UP NEXT
The Mountaineers will return home for their next two games against Fort Lewis College (Feb. 10) and Adams State University (Feb. 11).