Regis (CO) Regis 11-14,8-11 RMAC

UC-Colo. Springs UCCS 13-13,7-12 RMAC

Regis (CO) Regis

11-14,8-11 RMAC

Final

Feb. 14, 2023

UC-Colo. Springs UCCS

13-13,7-12 RMAC

Score By Periods
Team	1	2	F
Regis (CO) Regis	39	50	89
UC-Colo. Springs UCCS	38	29	67

Summary
Box Score

Caty Llamas, Regis Athletics

Game Recap: Men's Basketball | Feb 14 | David Wilson, Assistant AD-Communications

Egun and Carter post career nights, Rangers pick up crucial road win over UCCS

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — Sandwiched in the thick of the RMAC playoff race, the Regis University men's basketball team traveled down I-25 South and earned a resounding road win Tuesday, scoring a season-high 89 points in an 89-67 romp of the University of Colorado-Colorado Springs.

With the victory, Regis (11-14 overall, 8-11 RMAC) vaults into the eighth and final playoff spot in the RMAC standings with three games remaining in the regular season, leapfrogging the Mountain Lions (13-13 overall, 7-12 RMAC).

"Every win is important for us right now in the playoff chase. But how we came out was the challenge (Tuesday). We wanted to come out focused with energy and I thought our whole team, from the bench forward, brought great energy," said Regis head men's basketball coach, Brady Bergeson. "I thought it was a tremendous effort, from guys 1-14, with great energy and focus."

HOW IT HAPPENED: Welcoming back their leading scorer in graduate student guard David Simental back from injury, the Rangers featured a balanced offensive attack Tuesday with four players finishing with 15 or more points.

Simental paced all scorers with 24, including an 11-for-13 mark at the free-throw line, while sophomore forward Brayden Carter and redshirt junior guard Eddy Egun each erupted for 20 points apiece.

Egun poured in 13 of his career-high 20 points in the first half, helping the Rangers capture a 39-38 lead at the break. He also dished out a career-high five assists and grabbed eight rebounds in his 31 minutes.

"I thought Eddy really set the tone for us on both sides of the ball. He came out aggressive and was playing within himself and his role," Bergeson said. "We had a huge emphasis (Tuesday) on the quality of our offense and Eddy really worked hard within the framework of our offense. He set the tone for the team and guys fed off him."

Egun would also help jumpstart the Rangers in the second half as his 3-pointer sparked a 16-6 run by Regis, giving the team a 55-54 lead at the first media timeout of the half.

Maintaining a 66-59 lead midway through the half, the Rangers would put the game out of reach with another 16-2 blitz that ballooned their lead to 82-61 following a pair of free throws by Simental with 3:55 remaining.

Defensively, the Rangers limited UCCS to 42 percent shooting (11-for-26) and forced 10 second-half turnovers on Tuesday while holding the Mountain Lions' leading scorer Jon'il Fugett to 14 points on 5-of-10 shooting.

"We really had an emphasis to make things hard, didn't want to give UCCS anything easy. (Fugett) is really who makes them go so we had a huge emphasis on trying to keep multiple bodies in front of him, not let him get in a rhythm with easy layups or open shots," Bergeson said. "I thought our defense started the half great and stayed that way for all 20 minutes in the second half."

Junior guard CJ Reed was the fourth Ranger in double-figures with 15 points off the bench on an economic 5-for-7 shooting in his 31 minutes.

Graduate student forward Jas Singh, drawing the start for the injured Aaron Bokol, also contributed great minutes as he tallied eight points, two steals, a block and five rebounds.

GAME NOTES:

The 89 points by Regis topped its previous season high of 85 against MSU Denver on Jan. 14.
Carter recorded his first career double-double as he added a team-high 13 rebounds to go with his 20 points.
Regis shot 48 percent (26-for-54) from the field.
The Rangers got to the free-throw line 38 times on Tuesday (30-for-38) compared to 21 attempts by UCCS (15-for-21).

UP NEXT: The Rangers return home for their Senior Night game on Saturday against Western Colorado University. Tip-off is scheduled for 5 p.m. inside the Regis Fieldhouse.

Regis will honor its three graduating players — Bokol, Singh and Simental — prior to the game and take aim at claiming another crucial victory in the hunt for a spot in the RMAC Tournament.

"We'll get back, recover and get refocused on the next task at hand. We're treating every one of these last games like they are playoff games. It's a one-game season and Western will get everything we have in the tank," Bergeson said. "That's the approach. Senior Night will be a great time to honor our guys who will be moving on and we're excited about that. But we'll be hyper focused on the task at hand Saturday night."

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