Box Score Colorado College built a 25-point lead midway through the second half and coasted to a 72-61 victory over Wartburg College in a non-conference game on Saturday afternoon at Reid Arena.
The Tigers led 64-39 after junior guard
Ryan Milne scored two of his 12 points with 8:18 remaining in the game, but the Knights continued to battle and closed the gap with a 22-8 run.
Wartburg pulled to within 70-61 after Thomas Perkins completed a three-point play with 37 seconds to go, but Chis Lesnansky scored two of his 13 points 10 seconds later to end the comeback attempt.
Freshman guard
Justin Berardino led CC's balanced attack with a game-high 19 points, 15 of which came on seven attempts from behind the arc.
Senior forward
Ian Rewoldt added 16 points and a team-high nine rebounds.
Tigers raced to a 21-10 after lead after Milne buried his second three pointer 7:09 into the game.
Berardino demonstrated his range with 2:16 to play in the half, draining a three pointer from 25 feet out on the left sideline to put the Tigers ahead 33-23. Berardino went 4-for-5 from the floor, including 3-for-4 from behind the arc, to finish the first half with 13 points.
Junior center Eddie Diemer scored in the paint with 2:28 remaining in the half to cut the Tigers' lead to 30-23, and the Knights pulled to within seven points after senior forward Drew Carwford dialed long distance for the second time with 1:59 to go.
Lesnansky scored the final four points of the half, including two at the buzzer after he used a spin move along the right baseline to create enough space to knocked down a 10-foot jumper that gave his team a 39-26 lead at the break.
Ian Rewoldt scored three first-half baskets off assists from Lesnansky, who matched his career high during the opening 20 minutes. Lesnansky finished with a career-best five assists and added eight rebounds.
Diemer paced the Knights (3-3) with 13 points and a game-high 11 rebounds.
Colorado College (2-3) begins Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference play next week when Austin College visits Reid Arena for back-to-back games on Friday and Saturday night.
