It came down to the final shot, but the Colorado College men's basketball team ended their three-game skid with a dramatic win over Schreiner on Sunday afternoon inside Reid Arena. The Tigers escaped with a 77-76 victory after Dylan Mackey for the Mountaineers missed on a potential game-winning heave as time expired. 
 
CC improved to 7-6 on the season and held the top shooting team in the SCAC to 44.8 percent on the floor. Scott Ruegg led all Tiger scorers with 15 points. He ended the weekend averaging 14 points per game. The Lafayette, CA native added one rebound, eight assists and three steals. 
 
"I thought today was a gutsy win for our team at an important time for our program," head coach Jeff Conarroe said. "We are in the middle of a tough stretch and Schreiner is a really good team.  I have a lot of respect for Coach Rock and their players. They are tough and play together." 
 
The Tigers didn't have the most straightforward task facing off against two top shooting teams in the conference in No. 9 Trinity and Schreiner. CC responded after a hard loss on Friday and outpaced the Mountaineers down the stretch. 

Schreiner had the slight advantage at the halftime break, leading 38-36, but CC outshot their opponents 41-38 in the second and didn't allow the Mountaineers to make a single three-point shot in the half. Schreiner is the best three-point shooting team in the conference, with a 38.4 success rate from long range. 
 
In the second half, the Mountaineers built their lead up to as many as six before CC went on a run and took the lead with 14:22 to play, thanks to a Russell Macfarlane layup. Ruegg extended the lead with a three-pointer on the following play, and the Tigers didn't look back for the rest of the contest. 
 
They didn't lose the lead for the remainder of the game and built their lead up to a game-high 11 points with 8:48 to play. Schreiner attempted their comeback and almost tied the game up after cutting the lead down to 75-72 with 1:39 left, and then another jumper by Ross Kamden made it a one-point game with less than 30 seconds on the clock. 
 
Ty Hendler got to the free-throw line and converted on both to make it 77-74. Schreiner had one more chance after Mackey made two shots from the charity stripe. On the last play, Mackey threw up a shot from half court that just missed and CC sealed their third conference home win of the season. 
 
"We had some great individual efforts tonight, but I thought we won the game in the paint, on the glass and on the defensive end of the floor," Conarroe said. "Schreiner is a great offensive team, and I thought our guys stepped up defensively. I also feel like, for the first time we stayed with what was working well for us and played good team basketball. I am very proud of our team."
 
CC outrebounded Schreiner 41-32, thanks to a big-time performance from Trey Crawford on the boards. He finished with a team-high eight rebounds and five points. 
 
The Tigers will go on the road for the next four games; their next matchup is at Austin College on Friday, Jan.12, in Sherman, TX.