Regis (CO) Regis 14-12,11-9 RMAC

Western Colo. WC 9-16,6-13 RMAC

Regis (CO) Regis

14-12,11-9 RMAC

Final

Feb. 23, 2024

Western Colo. WC

9-16,6-13 RMAC

Score By Periods
Team	1	2	F
Regis (CO) Regis	45	37	82
Western Colo. WC	36	39	75

Summary
Box Score

Billy Saunders, Regis Athletics

Regis freshman Jalen Brown (#0) scored a career-high 25 in Friday's win over Western Colorado (File Photo).

Game Recap: Men's Basketball | Feb 23 | David Wilson, Assistant AD-Communications

Brown pours in 20 of his career-high 25 in the first half, Rangers upend Mountaineers

GUNNISON, Colo. — Playing in their lone game of the weekend, the Regis University men's basketball team had a successful business trip out to Gunnison, knocking off Western Colorado, 82-75, on Friday inside Paul Wright Gym.

Regis (14-12 overall, 11-9 RMAC) was led by a career-high 25 points off the bench from freshman Jalen Brown and shot 55.8% as a team against the Mountaineers (9-16 overall, 6-13 RMAC) and moved back within a half-game of Black Hills State for the No. 4 spot in the RMAC standings; the last playoff spot guaranteed a home game in the RMAC Tournament.

"This was a really important game for us to play well. We're getting to that time as February is about to flip to March and we want to be playing our best basketball. I thought our guys did a great job showing up with intensity and we sustained efforts," said Regis head men's basketball coach, Brady Bergeson. "Western is really tough and I give them a lot of credit because we were never really able to pull away. They were able to hang around, but because of our multiple efforts we just never gave them back a run in a meaningful way where they could tie or take a lead."

HOW IT HAPPENED
The Rangers built a nine-point cushion in the first half, enjoying a 45-36 lead at the break in large part because of the play of Brown. The Salinas, California native poured in 20 of his 25 points in the opening period, which included a stretch where Brown tallied nine straight Regis points over the final 2:31 of the first half.

Brown finished an efficient 10-of-13 from the floor, 5-for-6 from 3-point range, to pace a Regis offense that shot a blistering 60.7 percent (17-for-28) from the field in the first half.

"Jalen had a huge first half and once he got going, you could see that his confidence was sky high. He made his first one or two shots and he was locked in," Bergeson said of Brown. "Western was really trying to key in on Chase and Eddy, defensively, and Jalen was able to get loose a little bit. And a lot of those baskets in the first half came off of Chase's playmaking and then Jalen did a great job of taking what the defense was giving him."

Fellow guards Chase Mayo Harmon and Eddy Egun would join Brown in double-figures with 15 points apiece, while Mayo Harmon led all Regis backcourt members with four assists.

In the second half, the Mountaineers would make their run back at the Rangers as WCU shot 55 percent (16-for-29) from the field and benefited from 13 offensive rebounds, cutting the Rangers' lead down to six at 65-59 midway through the half.

Regis would respond with a quick 8-1 blitz, though, building its largest lead of the game of 13 points at 73-60 with 5:53 to play and keeping the Mountaineers at bay the rest of the way to hold on for the 82-75 final.

GAME NOTES

Senior forward Tarig Eisa led all Regis players with eight rebounds and two blocks to go with his seven points. He leads all RMAC players with 37 blocks this season.
Junior guard Trey Bryant tallied nine points on 4-for-6 shooting and added three assists.
Regis shot 43.5% (10-for-23) from 3-point range, including 8-for-15 (53%) in the first half.

UP NEXT
The Rangers will now prepare for their final home stand of the regular season, beginning with New Mexico Highlands (7 p.m. Friday) before hosting CSU Pueblo (7 p.m. Saturday) on Senior Day.

Regis can clinch a RMAC Tournament spot with one more victory or one more loss by CSU Pueblo. And the team still has a chance at securing a home RMAC Tournament quarterfinal game if the Rangers can leapfrog Black Hills State and MSU Denver during the final weekend.

"We're focused on controlling what we can control this final weekend. Our real main target is that we just want to continue to play better basketball," Bergeson said. "When we put things together, we can be really difficult to go against. I think we're getting better as a team and unit on what's expected and our roles. We're excited for the chance to punch our ticket to the playoffs and we'll see what we can get done."

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