Mountain Lions come up short against Metro State in playoff loss

The Mountain Lions headed into mid February with one goal in mind: Advance to postseason play. By winning four of their last six games, the men earned the No. 3 spot in the RMAC's East Division with hopes of playing Colorado Mines. Unfortunately, UCCS was matched against powerhouse Metro State.

Despite accomplishing the goal of a playoff berth, UCCS lost 62-85 to the Roadrunners of Metro State on March 2.

Senior Cole Smith put on an impressive performance with a team high 21 points and nine rebounds in his final game as a Mountain Lion. Juniors Ben Feilmeier and Rob Howe followed with seven points and six points, respectively.

UCCS shot 47.1 percent from the field while maintaining the defensive pressure from Metro State reasonably well. The Achilles' heel for the Mountain Lions was the 20 turnovers and shooting only 8-21 from the foul line.

Metro State managed to shoot 55 percent from field-goal range, their highest since Jan. 19, and hit a season-high nine 3-point field goals. UCCS did manage to outrebound Metro State 34-32 but the game fell out of reach midway through the second half.

Head Coach Russ Caton commented after the game to www.gomountainlions.com with mixed feelings, saying, "I think we've proven ourselves to be a playoff-caliber program. Now it's time to set the standards a little bit higher and not settle for getting there."