Colorado squeaks out 2OT win over Northern Colorado

Elijah Malone scored 27 points, while Javon Ruffin and Julian Hammond III each added 12 as Colorado regrouped for a 90-88 double-overtime victory over visiting Northern Colorado on Friday in Boulder.

Hammond scored five points in the second overtime and Assane Diop finished with 10 rebounds for the Buffaloes (2-0), who pulled off the victory despite committing 21 turnovers.

Colorado made 3 of 4 free throws over the final 1:01 of the second overtime to take a two-point lead, and Northern Colorado's Marcell McCreary missed a go-ahead 3-point attempt with .3 seconds on the clock.

Northern Colorado missed two shot attempts on the same possession with under 30 seconds remaining in the first overtime, while Colorado's Andrej Jakimovski missed a 14-footer with six seconds left to force the second OT tied 76-all.

McCreary made a fall-away 3-pointer for Northern Colorado in front of his own bench with 0.5 seconds remaining in regulation to tie the score 67-67 and force the first overtime.

Colorado coach Tad Boyle, who coached at Northern Colorado for four seasons from 2006-10, won his 300th game at the helm of the Buffaloes. Boyle was inducted into the Northern Colorado sports hall of fame in August.

Isaiah Hawthorne scored 19 points and Jaron Rillie added 16 for Northern Colorado (1-1). Rillie added eight rebounds, seven assists and two steals. Zach Bloch scored 14 points for the Bears, while Langston Reynolds and McCreary each scored 13.

Colorado shot 46.6 percent from the floor to 43.2 percent from Northern Colorado, which made 13 3-pointers to five from the Buffaloes. Colorado had a 45-35 rebounding advantage.

Malone, a graduate transfer from NAIA Grace College in Indiana, was 8 of 12 from the floor in his second Division I game and added five rebounds.

In a back-and-forth first half, Northern Colorado led by as many as six points at 23-17 with 8:54 remaining in the first half on a 3-pointer from Rillie. The Bears were up 28-24 with 3:56 remaining in the half before the Buffaloes finished on an 8-2 run to take a 32-30 lead at the break.

--Field Level Media