Regis (CO) Regis 12-16,9-13 RMAC

CSU Pueblo CSU-P 12-16,8-14 RMAC

Regis (CO) Regis

12-16,9-13 RMAC

Final

Feb. 25, 2023

CSU Pueblo CSU-P

12-16,8-14 RMAC

Score By Periods
Team	1	2	F
Regis (CO) Regis	31	31	62
CSU Pueblo CSU-P	38	39	77

Summary
Box Score

Billy Saunders, Regis Athletics

Game Recap: Men's Basketball | Feb 25 | David Wilson, Assistant AD-Communications

Rangers fall to CSU Pueblo in regular season finale, head into RMAC Tournament as No. 7 seed

PUEBLO, Colo. — The Regis University men's basketball team fell by a 77-62 final Saturday in the 2023-23 regular season finale on the road against Colorado State University Pueblo.

"We've struggled to put good Fridays and Saturdays together. At times, we've looked really good and then other nights like (Saturday)we just struggled to convert on some easy baskets. CSU Pueblo did a good job making some things hard on us and that's kind of life on the road," said Regis head men's basketball coach, Brady Bergeson. "It's not the way we wanted to finish up the regular season, but we continue to be a work in progress and are glad we'll have a chance to keep learning and improving next week."

While it wasn't the end to the regular season the Rangers (12-16 overall, 9-13 RMAC), aided by losses from UC-Colorado Springs and South Dakota Mines on Saturday, and their win over New Mexico Highlands on Friday, Regis was able to punch its ticket to next week's RMAC Tournament.

Regis will go in as the No. 7 seed, holding the tiebreakers over UCCS and MSU Denver, and will face No. 2 seed Fort Lewis College (25-3 overall, 19-3 RMAC).

"It's funny because it some ways it doesn't feel like we did enough to get in. But yet there were a lot of other teams in the same positions as us and we did do enough. I think this experience will be extremely valuable for our young guys as we continue to mature, learn about the grind of the RMAC season, and now the RMAC Tournament," Bergeson said. "We're going to be believing when we get in there. We're not going to sell ourselves short now and we'll go in believing we can pull off an upset. It's one of the beautiful things about college basketball. You don't have to win four-of-seven in a series. You punch your ticket and get one-game seasons."

HOW IT HAPPENED: The Rangers played toe-to-toe with the ThunderWolves (12-16 overall, 8-14 RMAC) through the early parts of the first half, climbing within one at 18-17 on a 3-pointer from graduate student David Simental with 8:50 remaining.

Simental, the former CSU Pueblo star from 2019-2021, scored a team-high 17 to lead the Rangers in his first return trip to Massari Arena as a visitor.

CSU Pueblo responded with an 8-0 burst to grow its lead back out to 26-17 and maintained a 38-31 lead at the break.

Unfortunately, the Rangers were unable to get any closer than eight points over the final 20 minutes as CSU Pueblo methodically build a double-digit lead and held on for the 77-62 final.

Sophomore forward Brayden Carter was the second Ranger in double-figures with 11 points, while junior guard Eddy Egun finished with nine and the guard tandem of CJ Reed and Chase Mayo Harmon each added seven points.

GAME NOTES:

CSU Pueblo shot 48 percent (29-for-61) on Saturday while the Rangers finished at 35 percent (24-for-69)
Regis finished with a 40-30 edge in points in the paint
Carter grabbed a team-high 10 rebounds to record his second double-double of the season
Senior forward Aaron Bokol added nine rebounds and a team-high five assists
Reed led all Rangers with three of the team's five steals

UP NEXT: Regis will prepare for its RMAC Tournament quarterfinal game against No. 5/6 ranked Fort Lewis College. A tip-off time for Tuesday has not yet been set.

"Fort Lewis is a very good team. They have been one of the best in the conference and the country this entire season," Bergeson said. "We'll put on some film, see what our advantages are and how we can play to our strengths. Obviously, they have a lot of firepower over there so we're going to find a way to slow them down enough. We'll give everything we have to this game and we're excited for the opportunity to see what we can do."

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