Western Colo. WC 4-20,2-18 RMAC

Regis (CO) Regis 11-15,8-12 RMAC

Western Colo. WC

4-20,2-18 RMAC

Final

Feb. 18, 2023

Regis (CO) Regis

11-15,8-12 RMAC

Score By Periods
Team	1	2	OT 1	F
Western Colo. WC	33	35	9	77
Regis (CO) Regis	32	36	4	72

Summary
Box Score

Billy Saunders, Regis Athletics

Game Recap: Men's Basketball | Feb 18 | David Wilson, Assistant AD-Communications

Rangers fall in OT thriller to Western Colorado

DENVER, Colo. — The Regis University men's basketball team made a furious rally to force overtime, but were unable to knock off Western Colorado University in overtime as the visiting Mountaineers held on for a wild 77-72 final Saturday inside the Regis Fieldhouse.

Regis (11-15 overall, 8-12 overall) will end the weekend tied for 8^th in the RMAC standings for the final playoff spot — the Rangers currently owns the tiebreaker over MSU Denver, UCCS and New Mexico Highlands — while the win snapped an 11-game losing streak for the Mountaineers (4-20 overall, 2-18 RMAC).

HOW IT HAPPENED: The Rangers were unable to get their offense going on Saturday, trailing Western Colorado, 33-32, at the break and finishing the evening at 37.7 percent (26-for-69) shooting compared to the 43.9 percent (25-for-57) for WCU.

Regis trailed by as many as nine at 63-54 with 3:37 remaining before mounting an 11-2 blitz to tie the score at 65-65 with 55 ticks remaining in regulation, courtesy of a mid-range jumper for graduate student guard, David Simental.

A pair of Simental free throws with 43 seconds remaining tied the score again at 67-67. And following a 1-for-2 at the stripe from WCU's guard Avery Rembao at the 0:19 mark, the Rangers were able to force overtime when sophomore forward Brayden Carter nailed 1-of-2 free throws with 4.3 seconds remaining to set up overtime.

In the extra period, the Mountaineers opened on an 8-2 run to take a 76-70 lead with just 1:36 remaining. Unfortunately for the Rangers, they were unable to overcome the late hole as Western Colorado was able to hold on for the 77-72 final.

GAME NOTES:

Carter led all Rangers with 25 points Saturday on 10-for-15 shooting
Senior forward Aaron Bokol fell just shy of a double-double, grabbing a team-high 11 rebounds and scoring nine points
Simental was the second Ranger in double-figures with 16 points
Regis finished with a 38-20 advantage in points in the paint
The Rangers honored their three graduating seniors and graduate students before the game in Bokol, Simental and graduate student Jas Singh

UP NEXT: The Rangers will continue their playoff push next weekend when they conclude the 2022-23 RMAC regular season with road games against New Mexico Highlands (7 p.m. Friday) and CSU Pueblo (7:30 p.m. Saturday).

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