The Colorado College men's basketball team fell short in overtime 80-77 to the University of the Ozarks on Sunday evening. The Tigers forced OT with
Scott Ruegg's three-pointer with 13 seconds left, tying it up at 65-65, but the Eagles developed a lead in the extra time and held on in the end.
Ruegg led CC with a season-high 23 points. The Lafayette, Calif. native shot 44 percent (4-9) from three-point range and finished with five rebounds and a block.
Senior
Asher Nofziger was a rebound shy of a double-double after scoring 11 points and added two assists.
Sophomore
Ty Hendler gathered a career-high seven rebounds. He finished with five points and six assists.
CC and Ozarks exchanged leads in the first half, building up leads by as many as nine points. The Tigers led by six with 15:24 remaining before the Eagles went on their first-half run, in front 15-12 with 13:16 left. They worked it up to 24-15 with 8:19 left till the break.
The Tigers countered with a 14-4 run of their own capped by an
Orion Samikoglu three-pointer and lay up back-to-back to give CC a 29-28 lead with 2:21 left.
A Corey Shiveley triple and
Ty Hendler offensive board and bucket put the Tigers up 36-32 at halftime.
In the second half, the Tigers held the Eagles to only 36 percent shooting but made only 32.14 percent of their shots.
CC led a slim margin for most of the second half until the Eagles jumped back in front 55-53 with 4:40 remaining after a three-pointer.
Both teams traded leads for the remainder of regulation, but the Eagles held on to a three-point lead after a pair of free throws with 25 seconds left. The Tigers had one last chance to tie it up, and Ruegg drilled a three-pointer from 26 feet out, tying the game at 65-65.
The game went into overtime, but the Eagles managed to get to the charity stripe, making 7 of 10 free throws, and eventually won 80-77. The Tigers fell to 8-9 but remain third in the Blue Division of the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference Standings with a 4-4 conference record.
They will travel to Texas next week to play Austin College on Friday, Jan. 31, and the University of Dallas on Sunday, Feb. 2.
