Western basketball comes back from 20-point deficit

The Western Colorado University men's basketball team fought back after trailing by 20 to take down the Westminster University Griffins 84-80 on the road on Jan. 16.

Mountaineer freshman Dawlton Grant earned the first bucket of the game, but the Griffins took a 4-2 lead after scoring back-to-back layups. On the next possession, senior Spencer Wright found Kade Juelfs for an open 3-pointer to take a slim advantage. Westminster answered with a bucket, but guard Trey Anderson knocked down a three for an 8-6 edge.

The teams traded points, but the Mountaineers held the lead. A turnaround jumper for junior Ty Buckmon elevated the Mountaineer advantage to 4 points. But the Griffins earned two free-throws, a steal and pull-up jumper to tie the game at 21 apiece.

Westminster took the advantage after knocking down a three with 10 minutes left in the first half. The Griffins capitalized with a turnaround jump shot to put them up by 9. Junior Andrew Reichart scored for the Mountaineers after a 6-minute drought, but Westminster held its foot firmly to the pedal. The Griffins stretched the lead to 11 with less than 3 minutes left in the half.

Wright drained a floater, and a layup by senior Amar Rivers carved into the Westminster lead. In the final minute, Rivers and sophomore Tyler Halligan traded points with the Griffins to move the score to 46-35 into halftime.

The Griffins accelerated into the second half with a 9-point run. Wright halted the momentum with a 3-pointer, moving the Mountaineers within reach. But still, the Griffins stretched their lead to 20 points.

Anderson and junior Christian Still hit threes, but Westminster moved the score to 63-49 with under 15 minutes to play. The Mountaineers persisted, however, and Rivers bagged a shot behind the arc to move the Mountaineers within 9 points. Senior Nalik Veasley completed a three-point play, followed by a driving layup from Halligan to cut the lead down. Juelfs was fouled twice, and the senior knocked down four to trail 67-63.

With under 5 minutes left in regulation, Anderson knocked down a massive three. The Griffins utilized Mountaineer fouls to go up 77-72. Halligan pulled down an offensive board, and passed it to Rivers for the bucket. The offensive resurgence moved the game to a 2-point margin. The Mountaineers forced the Griffins into a turnover and found Veasley under the net for an open bucket to tie the game at 77-77.

After a Westminster timeout, Anderson drained a three to give Western an 80-77 advantage. The Griffins completed a three-point play, but with less than a minute, Anderson finished around the rim to take a 2-point lead. The Griffins called a timeout, but the team’s last offensive possession fell short. Anderson sank two free throws in the final minutes to seal the 84-80 victory.

The Mountaineers return to conference action at home against Colorado School of Mines on Feb. 6 at 7:30 p.m.

(Drew Dunathan is the assistant athletics communications director at Western Colorado University, and can be reached at ddunathan@western.edu.)