What A Game!!!

It is amazing to see how God has brought together once again a great group of guys despite our scholarship situation. CCU plays in a strong Division 2 Conference against teams that have 10 full scholarship athletes where CCU has none. Needless to say, God does all the recruiting!!! I remember last year attending a local High School game where the Coaches were there to check out Nitty who the Coaches were recruiting. I remember Coach D's wife, Vicki raving about the "red head" Jobi. Vicki is not just any coach's wife, having played at Penn State and leading them to multiple NCAA tournament berths she fully understands the game and is a huge help to the program. So kudos to Vicki for finding this gem of a player in Jobi and to Coach D for listening to his wife!!! I am so excited to watch Jobi continue to grow over the next 4 years. The best thing about him is who he is off the court. He is one of the most humble young men I have ever met, but last night on the basketball court he was a warrior. Great Job Jobi, we are so proud of you and all of the guys on their huge win over Fort Lewis last night who beat us in the RMAC championship game last year.

Hot Shooting First Half Helps Cougars Ground Skyhawks 78-75
January 17, 2009—The CCU men’s basketball was lights out in the first half Saturday night, downing 60% of their three point attempts, taking a 14 point lead into the break and holding off a late Fort Lewis rally to pull out a 78-75 (box score) decision at the Cougar Event Center in Lakewood, Colorado.
Freshman post Jobi Wall, was unconscious in the first half scoring frenzy, pouring in 17 points in only 14 minutes of action, while shooting 7-8 from the floor and adding one rebound and a single blocked shot.
The Cougars took a comfortable 49-35 lead in the break, and looked to be cruising to their fourth conference win of the season.
Fort Lewis had other plans however, and opened up the second half with a 14-2 run to pull within two points (51-49) with just under 16 minutes remaining.
The Cougars would bend but not break, running the advantage back up to 11 points on a Brendan Puckett tip-in with 8:53 showing.
The hard-nosed Skyhawks had one more run left in them, as they cut the double-digit CCU advantage all the way down to only one point (73-72) when De Andre Lansdowne sank a contested layup with only 2:30 to play.
Puckett ran the margin back up to three on a pair of made free throws, and a silky-smooth baby hook shot by Justin Neuhaus gave the Cougars some breathing room with just over a 1:30 to play.
Puckett and Wall each finished the contest with 17 points, while Jordan Long tacked on 16 points and five assists.
Peter Bailey added 10 points and eight strong rebounds, and Neuhaus poured in 11 points and four blocks in the Cougar win.
Kirk Archibeque notched the game’s lone double-double with 20 points and 14 rebounds for Fort Lewis.
The Cougars outgunned the guest Skyhawks 92% (12-13) to 68% (17-25) from the free throw line.
With the victory, CCU improves to 9-6 overall and 4-3 in the RMAC. Fort Lewis drops to 14-4 and 4-2 in conference.
The Cougars now gear up for a tough road set, as they battle the Chadron State Eagles on Friday, before traveling to Kearney, Nebraska to take on the Nebraska-Kearney Lopers on Saturday. Both games are slated for an 8:00 p.m. tip off.