UC-Colo. Springs UCCS 5-8,1-6 RMAC

Regis (CO) Regis 7-5,4-3 RMAC

UC-Colo. Springs UCCS

5-8,1-6 RMAC

Final

Jan. 02, 2024

Regis (CO) Regis

7-5,4-3 RMAC

Score By Periods
Team	1	2	F
UC-Colo. Springs UCCS	22	40	62
Regis (CO) Regis	41	47	88

Summary
Box Score

Billy Saunders, Regis Athletics

Vojin Mastilovic (#9) tallied five points Tuesday while leading Regis in steals (3), rebounds (7) and assists (5).

Game Recap: Men's Basketball | Jan 02 | David Wilson, Assistant AD-Communications

Rangers open New Year with 88-62 rout of UCCS

DENVER, Colo. — The Regis University men's basketball team opened 2024 just the way it concluded 2023, picking up a dominating conference win with an 88-62 thumping of the University of Colorado-Colorado Springs on Tuesday.

Regis (7-5 overall, 4-3 RMAC) showed no signs from the 17-day layoff between Tuesday's matchup with the Mountain Lions (5-8 overall, 1-6 RMAC) and the team's 75-62 road win back on Dec. 16 against Colorado Christian University; a game in which the Rangers led by as many as 30 points in the first half.

"I think it was an important game for us to knock some of the rust off and get back into the routine of practicing and playing extended minutes," said Regis head men's basketball coach, Brady Bergeson. "I don't necessarily think it was our best performance, but we certainly did plenty of good things to win and win convincingly. I was really happy about the effort put forth and now we'll focus on cleaning up some of those deeper details."

HOW IT HAPPENED
On an evening where neither team was able to find much success on the perimeter —Regis shot 29.2 percent and UCCS finished at 13.8% from deep — The Rangers were able to attack the paint effectively, finishing with a staggering 60-28 advantage in points in the paint.

Aided by some early foul trouble to the UCCS forwards, Regis was able to slice and dice up the Mountain Lions' zone defense in the first half, jumping out to a 15-5 lead by the 12-minute media timeout and building a 19-point halftime lead at 41-22.

"We knew we'd see their zone at some point and they ended up starting with it. And I thought it was really important that, as a team, we didn't settle for a ton of perimeter shots. You have to maintain balance against a zone of getting into the paint, getting to the rim, offensive rebounding and drive dump-offs," Bergeson said. "We were able to attack their center, get him into a little bit of foul trouble, and I thought that helped tilt things for us in that first half."

Regis would also receive standout performances from its bench unit on Tuesday, which outscored the UCCS reserves, 52-22.

Graduate student forward Tarig Eisa led the charge as he poured in a season-high 21 points on efficient 9-for-11 shooting. Eisa would also add four rebounds, a block and a steal in a highly-productive 19 minutes off the bench.

Junior guard Trey Bryant and freshman guard Jalen Brown added nine points and eight points, respectively, to help pace the Regis bench.

Eisa was then joined in double-figures by starters Eddy Egun and Chase Mayo Harmon as the backcourt duo tallied 13 points and 11 points, respectively, to help lead a Regis offense that finishing the evening a sizzling 51.4% (37-for-72) from the floor.

Complimenting their efficient offense, the Rangers' defense was just as equally suffocating for the Mountain Lions to handle as UCCS shot just 32.8% (20-for-61) and trailed by as many as 36 at 75-39 with 9:50 remaining.

Regis would force 22 turnovers by UCCS and converted those into a 27-11 advantage in points off turnovers.

GAME NOTES

Mayo Harmon and sophomore guard Vojin Mastilovic led Regis defenders with three steals.
Mastilovic added to his big night off the bench as he led all Rangers with five assists to go with his five points and seven rebounds in 18 minutes.
Freshman guard Ty Cox tied for the team lead in rebounds with seven.
UCCS junior forward Jesse Iweze led all scorers with a season-high 28 points.

UP NEXT
The Rangers continue their current four-game home stand with a non-conference game against (RV) Colorado School of Mines on Thursday. Tip-off is scheduled for 5 p.m. inside the Regis Field House.

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