Mountain Lions edge Hounds in OT

DURANGO, Colo. — Brent Jones led five Colorado-Colorado Springs players in double figures with 16 points and the Mountain Lions pulled away in overtime Saturday for an 80-76 victory over Eastern New Mexico University in the George B. Boedecker Classic, hosted by Fort Lewis College.

Colorado Springs, which had a 15-point lead with less than eight minutes left, went on an 8-1 run to erase a one-point ENMU lead in the overtime.

Luke Hristou came off the bench to add 12 points for Colorado Springs (1-1), while forward Rob Howe and guards Ben Fellmeier and Jordan McClung finished with 11 apiece.

Junior forward Max Carrier had 19 points and a game-high 13 rebounds for the Hounds (2-2), including seven boards on the offensive end. Junior guard Stefan Mirabal led the Hounds with 20 points while freshman guard Michael Maya added 14, and both players converted four 3-pointers.

The Mountain Lions shot 65 percent after halftime, including 4-for-4 in the OT, and finished at 57 percent for the game on 29-of-51. Meantime, ENMU managed just 32 percent from the floor on 24-of-76.

Colorado Springs led much of the first half, but ENMU went on an 8-0 run capped by Mirabal’s layup for a 23-22 lead with four minutes left. The Hounds led by four points with two minutes remaining, but needed a Carrier free throw with 49 seconds to go to take a 29-28 advantage into halftime.

Colorado Springs scored 11 points in a row early in the second half to lead by eight, and steadily extended the advantage until a 3-pointer by Hristou made it 57-42 with 8:15 left. ENMU began chipping away, tying it at 64-64 on a 3-pointer by Maya with 58 seconds left.

Three free throws put the Mountain Lions back in front. Carrier’s dunk with eight seconds left cut it to 67-66, then Howe missed the front end of a 1-and-1 with five seconds to go and Hristou fouled ENMU’s Gerald Brown on the rebound.

Brown made the first shot, but missed the second and the game went into overtime.