Northern Colorado Wins CIT Tournament
GREELEY, Colo. (CBS4) -- The University of Northern Colorado men's basketball team used a 14-2 run at the end of the first half to seize control against the University of Illinois at Chicago Friday night and capture the 2018 CIT Tournament Championship.
UNC withstood a late rally at the end of the second half to beat the UIC Flames, 76-71, in the finale of the 10th CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament.
The Bears are the first Big Sky team ever to win an NCAA postseason tournament.
Bears WIN!! 76-71
— UNC Men's Basketball (@UNC_BearsMBB) March 31, 2018
Head coach Jeff Linder's squad trailed IUC 24-21 in the first half when it build its surged ahead and ran to the locker room with a 35-26 advantage.
In the second half, UNC had its biggest lead of the night, 65-49, with 7:33 to play.
The Flames pulled to within one at 71-70 with 2:06 left on the clock, but could not regain the lead.
Jordan Davis led UNC (26-12) with 29 points.
Scoring 23 points, senior guard Andre Spight eclipsed the all-time record in the Big Sky Conference for points in a season.
UNC is the first team in Big Sky History to score over 3,000 points in a season.
Sophomore guard Marcus Ottey led UIC with 25 points. The Flames (20-16) were seeking their first postseason tournament title in program history.
The CIT Tournament field is composed of participants who belong to "mid-major" conferences and who were not invited to the NCAA Tournament, the National Invitation Tournament, or the College Basketball Invitational.