Sophomore guard
Nick Rose scored a career-high 30 points, but Western State held on for a 77-70 victory over Colorado College on Saturday afternoon at the 2008 Holiday Inn Thanksgiving Classic at Mesa State College in Grand Junction, Colo.
Rose drained eight of 10 three-point attempts to finish within one of the CC single-game record shared by six players. He went over the 20-point plateau for the second time this season and third time in his career.
Brady Ohlsen had a career-high 26 points, eclipsing the 20-point mark for the third time this year and fourth time overall. He made of 10 of 11 shots for a career-best .909 shooting percentage. Ohlsen tied his season-high with nine rebounds.
The Tigers trailed 26-21 with 5:46 remaining in the first half, but the Mountaineers used 14-3 run to stretch their advantage to 16 points before Rose trimmed the deficit to 40-27 after 20 minutes.
The lead remained in the teens throughout the second half and Western State led 75-57 with 3:25 to go, but CC went on a 13-2 run to pull to within seven points on Rose's final three-pointer in the finals seconds.
Justin Avalos led the Mountaineers with 21 points and six rebounds. Cameron Burney added 14 points, while Brandon Gentry had 13 points and six boards.
Colorado College will face Johnson & Wales University in Denver on Tuesday night before beginning Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference action next Friday at home against Trinity University.
