GUNNISON, Colo.  Visiting Colorado Christian used a second-half surge to rally from a halftime deficit in Saturday afternoon's 79-68 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference win over host Western Colorado.

JUST THE FACTS
Final score: Colorado Christian def. Western, 79-68
Records: Western 6-14 overall (4-8 RMAC), CCU 9-11 (4-8)
Location: Paul Wright Gym, Gunnison, Colo.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• It's probably not accurate to say one shot made the difference in the game, but it certainly swung the momentum.
• Western had built a double-digit advantage heading into the halftime break, leading 42-31, with CCU in their offensive end for one final shot before the end of the opening half.
• A Cougar miss seemed to sew things up but a tipped rebound went out past the arc where CCU's Zachary Reed drilled a 3-pointer as the buzzer sounded, cutting the Mountaineer lead down to eight, 42-34.
• The Cougars came out of the break and went on a 20-5 run that added to that last second, first-half momentum and wrested the lead away from the Mountaineers.
• Western mounted a comeback, though, with three consecutive 3-pointers, two by Aidan McDowell and the last from Reese Strawn that pulled the Mountaineers to within a point, 57-56.
• Minutes later Strawn would strike again from behind the arc to push Western back in front, 61-59, with 7:05 to play.
• But the Cougars put together another dominant run, scoring 20 points to Western's 7 over those last seven minutes to pull away for the road victory.

HARDWOOD NOTES

• Rebounding and turnovers were a factor in the loss for Western. CCU forged a 34-22 advantage off the glass while committing just 7 turnovers to the Mountaineers' 15.
• The Cougars scored 23 points off turnovers, to Western's 9, and the rebounding gap allowed CCU to add 13 second chance points while the Mountaineers were held without a second chance point.
• McDowell paced Western with 28 points with Strawn also hitting double digits, scoring 11 in the game.
• Joanis Koulisianis and McDowell led the Mountaineers in rebounding with five each.
• Western shot better from the floor, 52% to 47% by CCU, and hit nine 3-pointers to the Cougars' 4.
• But CCU went the free throw line (30) more than twice as many times as did the Mountaineers (13), and the Cougars hit 25 of those opportunities while Western converted 9 of those chances from the stripe.

THEY SAID IT


UP NEXT
It's a trip over the mountains for Western with its next two games, RMAC battles at Colorado School of Mines on Feb. 5 and at MSU Denver on Feb. 7.