The Colorado College men's basketball team nearly overcame a 17-point deficit but fell short against UC Santa Cruz by a final score of 89-85. The Tigers outscored the Banana Slugs 43-35 in the second half and made 10 three-pointers. 
 
Junior Asher Nofziger led the team with 22 points and tied a the program record for most rebounds in a single game with 19.

The Denver native dominated the glass, swiping eight offense rebounds. He finished the game with two assists and went 14-17 from the free-throw line. 
 
Senior Scott Ruegg came alive in the second half as he finished with 14 points, two rebounds, an assist and a steal. He made two crucial three-pointers and shot 50 percent from the floor (5-10). 
 
Orion Samikoglu and Ty Hendler combined for 22 points, five rebounds and six assists. Hendler tied his career high of five assists. 
 
CC jumped ahead 7-2 to start the game, but UCSC caught fire from long range. Junior Andrew Ferrera-Jones led all players with 39 points after making eight three-pointers, seven of which came in the first half. The Banana Slugs made 12 three-pointers in the first half and led 50-33 with 3:20 left in the half. This was their biggest lead of the night. However, the Tigers attempted to battle back and worked the lead down to 12, trailing 54-42 at halftime. 
 
In the second, CC went on a 14-5 run to cut the lead down to three with 12:43 remaining. Nofziger made consecutive free throws to make it 59-56. Ferrera-Jones made a layup on the ensuing possession to increase the lead back to five. 
 
UCSC ballooned the lead out to double digits again with 7:54 to play; the Tigers countered with a critical jumper by Ruegg and a pair of Nofziger free throws to cut it back within two possessions with 4:03 left. 
 
The clock continued to wind down as the sides exchanged baskets. With under two minutes to play, the Tigers sought a stop. UCSC's center Joe Espy scored inside the paint to go up 85-79 with 1:42 remaining. 
 
In need of a score, the Tigers looked to Ruegg who drilled his second three-pointer of the day with 53 seconds on the clock to make it 85-82. 
 
The Banana Slugs missed some free throws on the following possession, but a CC foul returned them to the line, where they converted both to go back up by five points. 
 
Ruegg and Hendler made three free throws in the final 20 seconds, but UCSC intercepted late inbound by the Tigers on the final play to seal the 89-85 final score. 
 
CC will hit the road for two SCAC games against Southwestern on Friday, Jan. 10^th, and Texas Lutheran on Sunday, Jan. 12th in Texas.