Box Score Chris Lesnansky delivered a game-high 21 points and Juwan Rohan connected on a critical three-pointer with a little less than three minutes remaining as Colorado College defeated the University of Dallas, 65-58, on Sunday afternoon at Reid Arena.

The Tigers evened their overall record at 8-8 and climbed back into the thick of the battle for a berth in the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference postseason tournament with a 3-3 ledger in league play.

"It was good effort, but we did not execute in key moments and we let Dallas hang around," Partee said. "We have to learn to play pressure defense without fouling because we're not going to shoot 50 percent from the floor every night."

CC built a 55-41 lead when freshman guard Eric Houska buried his third three-pointer of the game, but the Crusaders dialed up the intensity and used an 11-2 run to pull to within five points after senior guard Kym Malone dialed long distance with 3:24 remaining.

Thirty-six seconds later, Rohan got the three points back and triggered an 8-3 surge that sealed the triumph for Colorado College.

Lesnansky made five of 10 shots from the floor and 10 of 11 free-throws to reach the 20-point mark for the fifth time this season. The senior forward also grabbed six rebounds and dished out three assists.

With 11 points, Houska reached double figures for the fifth time. He also tied his season high with five assists.

UD made five of its first eight shots, including back-to-back treys by senior forward Aaron Wyatt and senior guard Blaine Blackburn, while building an early 13-5 lead.

The Tigers took their first lead at 16-15 when junior forward Tyler Jonas scored on a layup with 8:06 to play in the first half. Dallas scored five in a row to take a 20-16 advantage, but Colorado College answered with a 7-1 run that was capped by freshman forward John Hatch's baseline jumper that game his team a 23-21 lead after 20 minutes.

Wyatt finished with a team-high 17 points for the Crusaders, who slipped to 10-5 overall and 1-4 in conference play.

Sophomore forward Tom Kaiser scored 11 points and grabbed six rebounds, while Michael Sarrat added 10 points.

The teams play again on Saturday, Feb. 7, in Irving Texas.

"It was good to get two wins at home before we head out on the road," Partee said. "We still need everybody to bring their best game every night."

Colorado College returns to Texas next week for games at Schreiner University and Trinity University on Friday and Saturday, respectively.