PUEBLO, Colo. – The Westminster men's basketball team suffered its first Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference loss of the season with an 87-69 defeat at Colorado State – Pueblo on Saturday night.
Westminster (3-3*, 3-1 RMAC) was outscored 47-31 in the second half as a rested CSU-Pueblo (5-4, 3-1) took advantage of a Griffin team playing on a second straight night.
The Griffins led by four with 4:23 to play in the first half when
Dayon Goodman capped a 7-0 run by the team. After
Zerrion Payton converted a pair of free throws with 43 seconds to play in the half, Josh Smith buried a three to give the ThunderWolves a 40-38 lead at halftime.
The home team would then open the second half with a 25-8 run over the first eight minutes of play that had them leading by 19. CSUP shot 9 of 16 during the spurt and closed the advantage with 11 straight points. Westminster would cut the deficit to 10 on two separate occasions down the stretch, but they didn't have enough to get any closer.
The Griffins shot 43.3 percent on the night and were 6 of 14 from beyond the arc. They were hurt on the glass where CSUP had a 38-32 edge and was able to convert 10 offensive rebounds into 20 second chance points.
Three Griffins scored in double figures with Goodman and Payton getting 17 points apiece. Goodman also led the team with seven rebounds and tied for the team lead with two assists. Payton hit a pair of 3-pointers and also had two assists.
Casey Evans added 14 points.
Pueblo took scored 30 points in the paint and made 12 of 25 from behind the arc. They also converted 13 Westminster turnovers into 13 points.
Rico Spikes led five ThunderWolves in double figures with 18 points and he added 14 rebounds and five assists.
Westminster will return to the road next weekend for a pair of conference games before the holiday break. They will be at Adams State on December 16 for a 7:30 p.m. MST contest.
(*) NCAA non-countable game rules prohibit men's basketball victories vs. California Miramar and Bristol to be counted in season record.
