by Colorado College gave the University of St. Thomas all it could handle for 30 minutes, but the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference leaders pulled away late in the game and departed Reid Arena with a 92-79 victory on Saturday afternoon.
The Tigers led 60-53 after Eric Jonas scored two of his eight points on a baseline jumper with 12:35 to play and the score was tied at 66-66 three minutes later, but from that point on, the Celts caught fire and closed out the game on a 26-13 surge.
CooXooEii Black (Arapaho) poured in a game-high 28 points, and pulled down a team-high eight rebounds for CC.
It marked the 11th time this season the senior forward scored 20 or more points in a game.
Colorado College’s Aaron Acosta connected on five of six shots from behind the arc during the first half when he scored all of his 19 points.
UST was led by a pair of senior. Freddie Ricks led UST with 24 points, while Keaton Shaw recorded a double-double with 14 points and a game-high 13 rebounds.
The Celts led 42-30 after Andrew Abedo hit a three-pointer with 4:14 remaining in the first half, but the Tigers rallied with a 12-2 run to pull to within a deuce after Jonas grabbed a rebound at the defensive end and went coast-to-coast to score with 1:29 to play.
Black scored eight points in a span of 4:31 to ignite CC’s 12-1 run to open the second half
