Senior forward CooXooEii Black recorded game highs of 21 points and 13 rebounds to lead Colorado College to a dramatic 77-70 victory over the University of Texas at Tyler on Friday night in the 2018 Rocky Mountain Thanksgiving Classic at Reid Arena.

Black's layup with 6:44 remaining gave the Tigers what appeared to be an insurmountable 18-point lead, but UT Tyler dialed up the pressure and pulled to within seven points with 1:15 to go.

With 59 seconds on the clock, Black hit a pair of clutch free throws end CC's scoring drought at nearly six minutes.

After a three-pointer by Darius Alford cut the Patriot's deficit to 71-67, Black sank two more free throws to extend Colorado College's lead to six and then junior guard Eric Jonas hit four in a row from the charity stripe during the final 15 seconds to seal the victory.

Freshman guard Aaron Acosta produced season highs of 15 points and seven rebounds, while Jonas finished with 14 points.

After UT Tyler leveled the score at 35-35 on a Xavier Fogle three-pointer 89 seconds into the second half, the Tigers ran off nine consecutive points capped by a Jonas three-pointer from the left wing and an Acosta layup off a feed from Edmund Pendleton.

Another Jonas triple, this time from the right corner, and a CooXooEii reverse layup with 11:43 remaining gave CC a 57-41 lead, its largest of the game to that point.

Jonas gave the Tigers a 67-48 lead when he buried a triple from the left wing with seven minutes to play, but Tyrick Bennett answered with an old-fashioned three-point play on the ensuing possession to trim CC's lead back to 16.

Things began to get interesting when Fogle hit a floater with 2:32 to play and, after forcing a turnover, Alford scored on a layup to get the Patriots to within single digits for the first time since early in the second half at 69-60.

Alford hit a jumper to trim CC's lead to seven at the 1:15 mark, but that's when Black stepped up to make sure his team didn't fall behind for the first time since the opening minutes.

UT Tyler held an eight-point lead when Kaelin Love scored on a layup 6:27 into the contest, but pair of Acosta triples from the right corner keyed a 24-6 explosion that saw the Tigers turn a 17-9 deficit into a 33-23 lead.

After trailing by 10 points, the Patriots countered with a 9-2 surge and cut their deficit to 35-32 at halftime.

Alford led UT Tyler with 12 points, while Fogle and Bennett finished with 11 apiece.

In the first game of the men's session, Jontrell Herman poured in 31 points and dished out seven assists to lead Johnson & Wales to a 92-82 victory over George Fox University.

It was the third consecutive 30-point performance at Reid Arena for Herman, who led the Wildcats to a pair of victories last weekend at CC's tip-off tournament.

Ryan Lacey scored 20 points for the Bruins, who slipped to 2-2.

The men's portion of Colorado College's annual Thanksgiving classic continues on Saturday with two more games. Johnson & Wales squares off with UT Tyler at 5 p.m., and the tournament concludes at 7 p.m. when Colorado College plays host to George Fox University.