Colorado College battled their way back into the win column with a 79-78 overtime victory against Southwestern University on Friday night in Reid Arena.
With just over a minute left in the overtime period,
Scott Ruegg grabbed the rebound off of Chris Smith's missed three-point basket. With eight seconds left, Ruegg wasted no time with the breakaway three to push the Tigers to victory.
"We showed tremendous resolve tonight," coach Jeff Conarroe said. "Southwestern played really well and they are very well coached. It was truly a team win. Our guys gutted it out defensively and got a bunch of stops to put us back in the game."
Ruegg led the Tigers with 21 points and six rebounds alongside
Dinari Boykin who earned 17 points and eight rebounds of his own.Â
The Tigers trailed by as much as 17 halfway through the second period, but were able to battle back and tie the game at the end of regulation with a last-second layup by Boykin.Â
"I'm proud of their effort and several guys made huge plays and huge stops tonight," Conarroe said. "All the credit goes to our players, they believed it and they earned it."
CC shot 40.9% from the field and 37% from behind the arc against the Pirates.
Southwestern was led by Brock Luechtefeld who scored 21 points and earned 10 rebounds.
Up Next for Colorado College
The Tigers return to action to take on Texas Lutheran University on Sunday afternoon in Reid Arena.