LAKEWOOD, Colo. – With the fate of their season resting in their own hands, the Regis University men's basketball team (17-11, 12-10 RMAC) held off the Colorado Christian University Cougars (6-22, 6-16 RMAC) 93-89 to earn the final spot into the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference (RMAC) Tournament.
 
How It Happened: Regis came out of the gates with a 14-6 run before the home side decided they wanted to try and play spoiler in this very important game for the Rangers. After RU established a 39-29 lead, the Cougars started to make a comeback, taking a 42-41 lead with less than 2:30 remaining in the half. At halftime, the score was tied 46-46 as both teams shot better than 50 percent from the field. 
 
The second half was controlled much better by Regis who opened up their largest lead of the game to that point, 87-68 with 6:38 remaining in the game. However, the gap was closed to six-points, 81-87, just minutes later after an 12-0 run from the home team. Senior Christian Little stopped the bleeding with a layup, but CCU responded with a three-pointer on the other end and the game started getting much tighter, leading by only three-points, 89-86, with 1:59 remaining in the game. 
 
The final two minutes of play featured two teams fighting tooth and nail to come away with the win. For the Rangers, their season was on the line and for the Cougars, their seniors wanted to go out with one final win. RU held on with Little knocking in two free-throws at the end of the game, leading to a 93-89 win.
 
Game Notes: Little was remarkable in this game as he finished with 30 points on a night which could have been his last as a Regis Ranger. He finished 11-19 from the field and made 8-of-12 free throws with a game-high seven assists. Junior Brian Dawson (17 PTS, 6-13 FG), senior Roberto Vercellino (16 PTS, 6-10 FG, 8 REB), junior Donald Gipson (12 PTS, 4-6 3-PT) and redshirt-freshman Kevin Ebiriekwe (10 PTS, 9 REB) all added double-digit scoring in a high-scoring affair. Final shooting percentages for Regis were 53.8 percent from the field and 36.0 percent from beyond the arc. 
 
Up Next for the Rangers: Though it was not easy, the men's basketball team will enter the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference (RMAC) Tournament as the No. 8 seed where they will match up with the No. 1 overall seed Dixie State University on Tuesday, March 3 in St. George, Utah.