Northern Colorado's Will Figures sank two free throws with 5.1 seconds left to seal a 66-62 victory over Texas Southern in the first round of the Reggie Minton Classic at Friday night. The Bears (4-0) built a 13-point lead early in the second half, but the Tigers used a 15-3 run to close the gap to 46-45 with 11:55 remaining. Figures had 21 points to lead Northern Colorado, and Devon Beitzel added 17. Texas Southern (1-3) was playing without its leading scorer, Junior Treasure, who was sitting out the second game of a two-game NCAA suspension. Travele Jones led the Tigers with a game-high 25 points in his absence, and Deandre Hall scored 16 in the loss. Taylor Montgomery also had 13 points and Mike Proctor added 10 for the Bears, who scored 10 of their last 12 points from the free-throw line.
