Balanced scoring helps Colorado rally past Eastern Washington

Sebastian Rancik scored 13 points, Javon Ruffin and Trevor Baskin had 12 points each, and the Colorado Buffaloes overcame a slow start to beat the Eastern Washington Eagles 76-56 in Boulder, Colo., on Monday night.

Andrej Jakimovski added 11 points, seven rebounds and three steals for Colorado, which trailed by as much as 17 in the first half.

Nic McClain had a game-high 16 points and Vice Zanki contributed 12 points for the Eagles.

The Buffaloes opened the second half with six straight points -- part of a 12-0 run bridging halftime -- to tie the game at 31. Eastern Washington put up six straight to go back in front, but Colorado rallied to tie it again at 46 with 10:28 left in the game.

Tyler Powell split a pair of free throws for the Eagles, who then went cold and the started to take over.

Ruffin made a layup, Julian Hammond III hit from long range and Assane Diop scored to put Colorado ahead 53-47 with 8:30 left. As the Eagles' drought continued, Rancik hit another 3-pointer and Baskin scored off a turnover to push the Buffaloes' lead to 11 with 5:55 left.

Powell's layup ended a streak of 5:13 without a field goal for the Eagles, but Jakimovski answered with a layup and RJ Smith drained another 3-pointer to give Colorado a 63-49 lead entering the final media timeout.

Baskin scored off another turnover to push the advantage to 16 and the Buffaloes closed it out.

Colorado had eight turnovers in the first 8:28 and was only 2-for-8 from the field, and Eastern Washington built a 27-10 lead with 6:44 left in the first half.

The Buffaloes got their offense going after that. Hammond scored off a miss, Ruffin converted a turnover into a layup and Rancik hit a 3-pointer during a 9-2 run that got Colorado within 29-19.

After McClain hit a layup, the Buffaloes closed the half with six straight points to cut the deficit to 31-25 at intermission.

--Field Level Media