Grizzlies use 20-2 run to begin second half to beat Cougars by a dozen

ASC has season's best shooting night as Heinbaugh, Wilson tally 18 each

Seth Heinbaugh hit on all six of his second half shots and tallied 16 of his co-team-high 18 points in the Grizzlies' second half comeback.

Box Score

LAKEWOOD, Colo.— The Adams State College Grizzlies shot a season-best 60.0 percent from the field and used a 20-2 run to begin the second half en-route to a 77-65 road win over the Colorado Christian University Cougars, Saturday night here in the CCU Event Center.

The victory allowed the Grizzlies to salvage a weekend split in the west suburbs of Denver and to improve to 11-3 overall and to 8-3 in Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference play.

The Cougars led 28-24 at the break but fell to 4-10 overall and 3-8 in the RMAC with their fifth loss in six games since the calendar turned.

Senior Seth Heinbaugh (Prescott Valley, Ariz.) and junior Deray Wilson (Anchorage, Alaska) led the Grizzlies with 18 points each while Jack Osborn (Hobart, Tasmania, Australia) added 14 points and a team-high six rebounds while hitting on all six of his attempts from the field.  Heinbaugh did his damage on a 6-for-7 shooting night while Wilson hit on six of nine shots from the floor while recording a game-high four steals.

Abram Ziemer had 19 points, 12 of which were from long distance, and seven boards to lead the home team.

The Grizzlies, now 5-1 in 2011, were held to a slightly-below average 41.2 percent (7-17) shooting effort in the second half but were sizzling the nets in the second 20 minutes as they hit on 17 of 23 (73.9 percent) of their shots while missing on just three of their 20 shots from 2-point land.

Heinbaugh, a perfect 6-for-6 from the field in the second half, tallied 16 of his points in the final stanza while Wilson chipped in another 15 in the frame that saw the Grizzlies outscore the host Cougars, 53-37.

Wilson, who started the second half with a converted 3-point play, and Heinbaugh had the Grizzlies’ first nine points in the big run that saw the Grizzlies score 15 straight points to open a 44-30 lead just five minutes-plus into the second half.

The Cougars would claw back within seven (54-47) on a Rye Olson trey with 8:47 to go but watched Heinbaugh score a bucket in the middle of four Grizzly free throws as a 6-1 Grizzly spurt brought the lead back to a dozen.

The Grizzlies were never seriously threatened again and used a 19-for-25 (76.0 percent) second half free throw shooting effort to put the game away.

Meanwhile, the Grizzly defense held the Cougars to a 38.5 percent (10-26) shooting effort in the second half while forcing 12 of the CCU’s 20 total turnovers in that frame.

Two Cougars fouled out as CCU was guilty of 29 total fouls throughout the evening, helping the Grizzlies, whistled for 28 fouls, get to the line 37 total times, where they scored 26 points.

The Cougars were also efficient from the line, hitting on 19 of 27 (70.4 percent) attempts from the charity stripe.

However, the Grizzlies were in control for a majority of the game and opened a 20-12 lead. 
Still leading 21-14, the Grizzlies then allowed the Cougars to go on a 14-7 spurt over the final 5:52 to take the 4-point lead into the break.  The Cougars hit three of their eight 3-pointers in that stretch and finished the half 5-for-10 from long-distance.

However, they cooled to a 3-for-14 (21.4 percent) success rate in the second half as the Grizzlies came from behind to defeat the Cougars for the fourth time in five meetings and for the third straight time on the road.

The Saturday night victory, combined with other results from around the RMAC allowed the Grizzlies to move back into a tie for third place tie in the conference standings as Mesa State, now a game behind the Grizzlies at 7-4, was defeated 68-55 at home by Western State while Colorado Mines and Fort Lewis were doing battle in a pair of then 8-2 teams in nearby Golden, site of the Grizzlies 77-69 Friday night setback to the Orediggers.

Fort Lewis won that game 86-83 and is now 9-2 while the Orediggers slipped back into a tie with the Grizzlies.

The Grizzlies, who are 6-2 on the road this season, now return home for their next four and eight of their next 10 games. 

That stretch starts Friday against Regis (5-10, 2-9 RMAC), coached by ASC and RMAC Hall of Famer Lonnie Porter.  Tip-off in Plachy Hall, where the Grizzlies have won nine of their last 10, is at 8 p.m. following a 6 p.m. women’s clash and can be heard live on KSPK-FM (104.1 in Alamosa) or via the internet at www.kspk.com.