by Whatever UAFS men’s basketball coach Josh Newman said during his halftime discussion, the Lions were apparently listening.
Leading by just nine points at halftime, the Lions shot a sizzling 63 percent from the field in the final 20 minutes to pull away for a convincing 92-68 win against the Western State Colorado Mountaineers on Friday during the opening night of the Conference Challenge at the Stubblefield Center.
UAFS (1-0) will play No. 18 Metro State (0-1), which lost to Rogers State in the Conference Challenge opener, at 4 p.m. on Saturday. Rogers State (1-0) will play Western State Colorado (0-1) at 2 p.m. in the early game.
The Lions shot a solid 41 percent from the field in the first half (33 for 64) but led only 39-30 at the break.
That all changed after halftime.
UAFS made 20 of its 32 shots from the field in the final half and sank 9 of 10 free-throw attempts to break the game wide-open.
The Lions finished the game shooting 52 percent from the field (33 for 64) – they were 7-for-14 shooting from 3-point range – and shot 76 percent from the free-throw line (19 for 25).
Four Lions scored in double-figures. Junior guard Seth Youngblood (Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma) had 15 points, while sophomore forward Darrius Parker had 13, junior guard Alex Cooper and senior guard Teris Bourgeois had 12 points apiece.
Senior forward Kenny Martin and freshman forward Dalton Glapion each had nine rebound to help the Lions edge the Mountaineers by seven rebounds (39-32).
Western State Colorado shot 36 percent from the field (20 for 56) – it was just 5-for-20 shooting from 3-point range – and shot 82 percent from the free-throw line (23 for 28). James Thomas led the Mountaineers with 15 points, while Ben Beauchamp had 13, Tom Folsom 12 and Will Duggan 10.
Beauchamp led Western State Colorado with seven rebounds.
MEN’S BASKETBALL
UAFS 92, WESTERN STATE COLORADO 68
Western State 30 38 — 68
UAFS 39 53 — 92
Western State (0-1): Thomas 15, Beauchamp 13, Folsom 12, Duggan 10, Hopkins 9, Romero 6, Beresford 2, Matlock 1
UAFS (1-0): Youngblood 15, Parker 13, Cooper 12, Bourgeois 12, Martin 8, Vasiljevic 8, Raney 8, Thomas 5, Stojanovic 4, Glapion 4, Spiller 3
