COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo.—After several postponements and a cancellation, the Adams State University Men's Basketball team opened up the 2020-21 season with an exciting 85-78 win over the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs Mountain Lions here at the Gallogy Events Center on Saturday.

Adams State opened the game on fire as they lead 14-0 early. Destan Williams found Frederick Jackson open for easy shots at the rim as he had six points early while Williams had six points himself. Kaelin Crane got in on the action with a dunk.

After the lead eventually led 17-0 the Mountain Lions countered with a 14-run of their own including two deep three-pointers by DaRaun Clark. The Grizzlies were able to battle back and keep the lead and eventually take a 41-33 halftime lead.

The second half started with UCCS closing the lead to four at 58-54 with 11:35 left in the second half. The Mountain Lions closed the game and tied it twice late, however, with just 57.9 seconds remaining and Adams State up by two, Williams and Nykolas Lange provided the momentum shifting play. After a Mountain Lion timeout to set up a play, Williams tipped the ball away and then scrambled for the loose ball. As he was on the ground, he slide across the key attempting to gain control, when Lange was racing, unguarded and at full speed. Williams connected with Lange for a slam dunk to make it a four-point game and a lead they would not relinquish.

Adams State was led by Frederick Jackson. Jackson complied a double-double with 31 points and 11 rebounds. He helped propel the Grizzlies to an early 17-0 lead and shot 14-of-17 from the field and a perfect 3-of-3 from the free throw line. Of his rebounds ten were defensive boards. He also added two assists, two steals and four blocks.

Williams, Crane and Langue all finished the game with double digit points at 17, 16 and 13, points respectively.

As a team, the Grizzlies shot 55.7 percent (34-of-61) from the field, 20 percent (3-of-15) from beyond the arch and 82.4 percent (14-of-17) from the charity stripe.

With the win, the Grizzlies improve on their all-time series lead, 31-19 and snapped a four-game winning streak by the Mountain Lions. They are now 1-0 on the season and return to action on Wednesday evening when they host CSU-Pueblo at 5:30 p.m.

They will also close out the 2020 portion of the season on Saturday, Dec. 12 and Friday, Dec. 18 when they host South Dakota Mines and Colorado Mesa University, respectively.

Due to the ongoing impact of the COVID-19 in the San Luis Valley, all Adams State University home games in 2020 will be played without spectators. ASU Athletics will continuously re-evaluate the policy as local and state guidelines change.