Colorado College used a convincing 74-57 victory over Southwestern University and a loss by Schreiner University on Friday night to re-claim a share of first place in the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference.

The Tigers improved to 12-3 overall and are part of a three-way tie atop the league standings with Schreiner and Trinity University with a 5-1 record.

Ryan Milne paced the CC offense with 17 points and three assists, while junior forward Chris Lesnansky added 14 points and five rebounds.

James Lonergan tied his career high with nine rebounds to help Colorado College record a 44-27 advantage on the glass.

It didn't take long for the Tigers to take control of the contest. After senior forward Sean Myers gave the Pirates a 7-2 lead less than two minutes into the game, CC ran off 15 consecutive points, including six by Lesnansky, to open its first double-digit lead.  

Southwestern trimmed its deficit to eight on a jumper by Myers with 9:15 to go, but Colorado College outscored its guests 21-11 during the final 8:34 to build an 18-point lead at intermission and never looked back.

The Tigers took their largest lead when sophomore guard Luke Winfield sank a pair of free throws with 10:53 remaining.

The Pirates battled back to within 15 points on three-pointers by freshman guard Ben Stiver and sophomore guard Chris Lee during the final two minutes, but that was as close as they would get.  

Myers led Southwestern with 16 points, five rebounds and a pair of blocked shots.

Lee added 11 points, five rebounds and three steals for the Pirates, who dropped to 5-11 overall and 2-4 in the SCAC.

Colorado College plays host to Trinity University on Saturday at 5 p.m. MT.