Scott Ruegg and matched his career-high of 25 points and led the Colorado College men's basketball team with six made three-pointers as the Tigers downed UC Santa Cruz 73-59 on Thursday night. 
 
CC made nine three-pointers off 19 attempts (47.4 percent), their best conversion percentage from long-range this season. In the second half, the Tigers made six of seven threes (85.7 percent) and climbed back from a nine-point deficit to ultimately win by 14. Ruegg and freshman Gavin Carter combined for eight of the nine threes. 

"Tonight was a high-level game," head coach Jeff Conarroe said. "I think UC Santa Cruz is a very good team; I thought we were playing well and found ourselves down by nine in the middle of the second half.  But we stayed in the fight and some guys really stepped up!"
 
Ruegg led the team with 25 points, seven rebounds, three assists, and two steals. Carter followed suit with 13 points, 2-2 from deep, four rebounds, three assists and a steal. 
 
The Tigers outscored the Banana Slugs 46-31 in the second half and made 62.5 percent of their shots from the floor compared to shooting 31.3 percent in the first half. 

"Scott's effort was tremendous," Conarroe said. "So was Russell [Macfarlane]'s and Gavin had the best game he has had so far! But in the end, our defensive effort, relentlessness on the glass, and commitment in the weight room deserve credit for this win. I'm super proud of this team and their resiliency and toughness."
 
CC and UCSC went back and forth in the first 20 minutes, trading leads. It wasn't the best shooting half for either team; the Tigers and Slugs combined for 36.12 percent shooting, but the Tigers kept it close by taking advantage of some fast breaks and getting to the free-throw line. 
 
The Slugs threatened to go into the break with one of the bigger leads of the night, but Gavin Carter drilled a three with 1:50 to make it a 27-28 game at the half. 
 
After the break, It seemed as if CC couldn't miss a shot in the second half despite the half being down by possession and outrebounded by UCSC. The Slugs appeared to be running away with the lead with 11:41 to go in the game; they had their most significant lead of the night, 40-31. 
 
With 11:20 left, Ruegg made a three-pointer and the party was on. CC went on a 20-9 run over the span of four minutes to take the lead 51-49 with 7:36 left to play, thanks to a jumper made by Russell Macfarlane. 
 
After regaining the lead, CC's shooting showed no signs of slowing down. The Tigers went on a 20-3 run to build their lead up to 21 to go, thanks to numerous threes made by both Ruegg and Carter. Devin Philio got active, too, as he contributed to the run and finished the game with nine points and six boards. 
 
The win against Dallas and then on Thursday against UCSC is CC" 's first set of back-to-back wins since Dec. 15-17. 
 
The Tigers held the Slugs to 40.63 shooting in the second half and outrebounded their opponents 40-30. Dinari Boykin grabbed six boards with his three points, two assists, two steals. Ty Hendler had the last three of the game and finished with five points, one rebound and five assists. 
 
CC improved to 9-7 with the win and will close out their four-game road trip against Occidental on Saturday at 5 p.m. MT.