It was a bittersweet night for the Colorado Mesa University men’s basketball team as the Mavericks lost their second straight game in a 96-83 defeat to Adam’s State University (ASU) on Friday. Senior CJ Davis ended up reaching the 1000 point mark in his career at CMU, yet it was not enough to propel the Mavericks over the Grizzlies.
Poor defense and second half play was, once again, the Mavericks’ demise as Adams State took full control in Brownson Arena come the second portion of play.
CJ Davis made his 1000th career point from long range with 5:15 left in the first half as the senior guard had the best game he has had in weeks by racking up 15 points and three rebounds on Friday. That, however, was one of the only positives for CMU during the duration of the game.
Both schools performed rather well in the first half as CMU was led by leading scorer, Connor Nichols, who put up 12 points in the first along with four assists. The Mavericks shot 47 percent from the field in the first half and missed all but one free throw. However, defense, on the other hand, did not perform as significantly.
Adams State was able to put up 42 points on the scoreboard while shooting 46 percent from the field. During the three-game win streak the Mavericks were riding in the last two weeks, before losing to Westminster last Tuesday, CMU was able to hold their opponents to 37 percent shooting from the field during the first half.
This was not the case against ASU, and the tides did not turn come the second half.
The Grizzlies went from making only two three-pointers in the first half to dishing out nine in the second half against a struggling CMU defense.
Both Brandon Sly and Jarrett Givens for the Grizzlies put up 18 points and Sly completed his double-double with an additional 11 rebounds. Mike Tomas, the 6’10” center, lead the team in scoring on Friday with 21 points and three blocks to go with it.
Five of Adams State’s players scored in double digits and it again showed the lack of consistency the Mavericks have portrayed in the second half of the season.
ASU would seal the eventual 96-83 victory over CMU to hand the Mavericks their second loss in the last week.
CMU’s record drops to 11-13 on the season and the men will play in their final home game of the season on Saturday night, Feb. 10, against Fort Lewis College. The Skyhawks defeated the Mavericks 96-80 back on Dec. 8.
