It wasn't pretty, but Colorado College keeps finding a way to win.
The Tigers overcame early foul trouble and its worst performance of the season at the free-throw line to post a 52-47 victory over Southwestern University and maintain a share of first place in the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference's Western Division.
CC improved to 7-3 overall and 3-0 in the SCAC, while SU slipped to 8-3 overall and 1-1 in league play.
Despite picking up three fouls in the first 12:22, Nick Rose poured in a game-high 24 points to pace the Tiger offense for the eighth time in 10 games. It marked the seventh time this season he scored 22 or more points in a game.
Rose added season-highs of nine rebounds and two blocked shots.
Brady Ohlsen pulled down a game-high 10 rebounds and added nine points to become the 33rd player in Colorado College history to reach the 700-point plateau, finishing the game No. 33 with 706 career points.
Ohlsen, Jarrell Sweet and Jeremiah Waters each picked up two fouls in the first half.
Still, the Tigers appeared to be taking control when Waters buried a three-pointer to give CC a 24-15 lead with 4:17 remaining in the opening 20 minutes. But then Zach Bergstrom scored five of his nine points as the Pirates closed out the first half on a 10-0 run to take a 25-24 lead into the break.
Colorado College used a 13-3 run to build an eight-point lead after Rose buried one of his three long-range shots, but less than a minute later the momentum came to a grinding halt when Sweet was whistled for his fifth foul and picked up an addition technical.
The Pirates trimmed their deficit to three points on four different occasions during the final eight minutes, but each time the Tigers responded with at least one point to slow SU's comeback.
Colin Madden made a jump shot after Bergstrom made the score 44-41 with 5:21 to go, then he converted on a pair of free throws to help CC build a six points lead with 45 seconds remaining.
A layup by Jonathan Brown cut the Tigers' lead to 50-47 with 20 seconds to play, but that was as close as Southwestern would get.
Colorado College made just 12 of 26 free throws, including eight of 18 during the second half. The Pirates were unable to capitalize because they were even worse from the floor, making just 13 of 55 shots for a .236 field-goal percentage.
Anthony Cox led SU with 10 points, seven rebounds and four assists.
The Tigers travel to San Antonio on Sunday for a showdown with Trinity University.
