The Colorado State University-Pueblo men’s basketball team (10-12 overall, 9-7 RMAC) took on conference rival, UC-Colorado Springs (4-16 overall, 4-12 RMAC), and came out on top with a victory, 81-72.

The Thunderwolves didn’t come out on fire, but CSU-Pueblo found a way to get things rolling. The Thunderwolves hit 12 3-pointers, nearly tying a team high from 2006.

The player of the game was Bryse Velasquez, point guard, who came off the bench to score 15 points, grab six rebounds and help add on with five assists. Ryan Arel, guard, was another player that made his presence felt, while scoring 18 points and getting four rebounds.

“I played pretty good and, as a team, I think overall we played really well,” Velasquez said. “The other team started playing off and we were to able to take advantage of them being over-aggressive in the end.”

Early on in the game, it was a slow start for the Thunderwolves, but the team rallied back with an 18-0 run in the middle of the first half that put the Thunderwolves ahead. This lead didn’t fade and that was the continued theme for the rest of this game.

Wendell Lee, guard, put on a dominant performance in the first half, but foul trouble kept him out of the game for most of the second half. Lee was in the mix, getting eight points and nine rebounds.

Four of the players ended up with numbers in the double digits, which was in a similar fashion with last week’s performance against Western New Mexico University. The men’s team has won two straight and the team is looking for a final push to the playoffs.

The coach didn’t seem to be very vocal once his team took the lead, but his calls on the court worked, and worked well. The men were able to successfully execute plays and leave a man open for a basket. Coach Ralph Turner was all smiles throughout the second half.

“I am very happy, our men played hard, but they did not play well,” Turner said. “We have got to be better. If we want to beat the good teams down the road, we need to grab rebounds if we want to give ourselves a chance to win.”

The Thunderwolves will be away next week for the game against Fort Lewis College, in Durango, Colo. The last time these two teams played, it ended up in overtime and FLC pulled it out, 82-80.

For live stats for that game, visit the CSU-Pueblo athletics website,  gothunderwolves.com