It was a good effort, but in the end, good just wasn’t good enough.
The Colorado Mesa University men’s basketball team fell just short against the best team in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference. Saturday consisted of a rather promising, yet heartbreaking 94-89 overtime loss against Fort Lewis College on Senior Night.
CMU has had a rough season up to this point full of ups and downs. Saturday was a testament to what this season has been, and that is putting up a good fight but not having the necessary caliber to go over the edge.
The Mavericks defense performed rather well against the Skyhawks only allowing them to shoot 38 percent from the field and CMU actually possessed the one point lead heading into halftime.
Leading 38-37 heading into the half, center Damon Dubots was having one of his best games of the season. Dubots put up 12 points in the first half and grabbed four rebounds. He ended the night with 22 points and nine rebounds.
The Mavericks stayed dead even with the first place Skyhawks and kept the game interesting up until the end of regulation. One of the key factors that Fort Lewis used to their advantage was second-chance points in which they put up 16 compared to the small five the Mavericks possessed.
It was a positive thing to see consistent play throughout both halves from the Mavericks; however, the talented Skyhawks offense, who has not lost since Jan. 12, kept even more consistent as Fort Lewis was able to take over in overtime and seal the evident 94-89 win.
Fort Lewis earned their 20th win of the season to match very nicely with only three losses. The Mavericks drop to 11-14 and to 11th in the RMAC rankings.
CMU will attempt to close out their season on a positive note when they go on a three-game road trip starting with Black Hills State on Feb. 17.
