COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — The Southwestern men's basketball team and Colorado College went back-and-forth with multiple lead changes in the second half, with the Pirates pulling away late for the 77-71 victory.
Kyle Poerschke sealed the win with an emphatic dunk in the final seconds to cap off an 8-1 run over the final minute to deliver Southwestern the victory.
Southwestern opened with plenty of firepower from its backcourt in the first half, getting seven points each from starting point guard Josh Jones and reserve Jacob Hester on a combined 5-for-8 shooting to lead the Pirates to a 44 percent shooting performance at the break.
Colorado College countered with 10 points from Jack McRoskey and nine more from Charlie Rounaghi, offsetting a poor team shooting performance (35.9 percent) by creating nine turnovers, including seven steals, to outscore Southwestern 12-5 in points off turnovers to take a 35-33 lead at the half.
Poerschke and Colorado College guard Scott Cunningham battled shot-for-shot in an amazing display between the two seniors. Poerschke scored 17 of hits 22 points in the second half, hitting 5-for-9 from the field, including 2-for-2 from deep and 5-of-5 from the free-throw line. Cunningham answered with 16 points on 5-for-9 shooting and a perfect 5-of-5 from the free-throw line himself, leading the Tigers with 21 points.
Colorado College opened its largest lead at 51-41 off a Cunningham jumper with 11:47 remaining in the game. Southwestern responded with a 36-22 run, shooting 9-for-16 over the final 12 minutes, led by Poerschke and Hester combining for 22 over that time.
The Pirates did much of their damage from the free-throw line over the final run, outscoring Colorado College 15-1 over that time.
Colorado College scored back-to-back layups, taking a brief 70-69 lead off a Scott Ruegg steal and layup with 1:37 remaining. Jones drew a foul with 46 seconds remaining, regaining the lead for Southwestern with a pair of free throws. Jones and Poerschke hit a pair of free throws each over the final 20 seconds, and Jones stole the ball from Edgar Romero with six seconds remaining and passed to Poerschke for the final dunk.
Jones finished with 16 points on 4-for-7 shooting, hitting 7-for-7 from the free-throw line. Hester added 17 points off the bench, hitting 3-of-5 from long range. Southwestern outscored Colorado College 25-10 from the free-throw line.
Southwestern improves to 8-12 with a 5-6 conference record. The Pirates will host the University of St. Thomas on Monday at 5:30 p.m.
