The Comfort Inn Classis treated Colorado Mesa University well over the weekend as the Mavericks continued their offensive onslaught in a 96-75 of Northern New Mexico College that sends them back home with two blowout wins under their belt.
CMU, once again, got off to a roaring start in the first half. The Mavericks shot 52.9% (18-34) from the floor on their way to a 47 32 advantage after 20 minutes, leaving the Eagles in the dust and forcing their opposition to eliminate a huge deficit.
CMU was a force in the paint with Damon Dubots leading the way with 11 points after the huge first half. The Mavericks secured a strong advantage with the inside game, outscoring the Eagles 28-4 inside the paint and gaining a 22-15 edge in the rebound department.
A blend of strong defense and efficient offensive has been the recipe so far this season for the Mavericks, and it has gotten them into great game situations. Their largest lead was again in the high 20’s, this time with CMU up 63-37 five minutes into the second half. For this Comfort Inn Classic, the Mavericks sure did make themselves comfortable all weekend.
Coming out of the half, the Mavericks acted as if halftime never occurred. CMU outscored the Eagles 17-12 in the first eight minutes and continued to pile on their sizeable lead. Dubots continued to be featured down low as he was a focal point all game with his 39% usage percentage.
Nichols went on a late surge to close in on Dubots for the lead in points. The guard scored eight straight points with Hoffer assisting on two makes. Sam Walters gave CMU their largest lead of the night and another game leading their opponent by 28 points when he nailed a three with 2:50 left to play.
Although the Eagles were effective from three (7-13) in the second half, it wasn’t enough to overcome the first-half deficit. They only mustered 12 points in the paint compared to 56 for the Mavericks.
The Mavericks all but put the game away with a second half that outdid the first after shooting 62% (18-2) to the Eagles 46.7%.
Dubots led CMU in scoring with 19 points in 18 minutes on 8-12 shooting. Nichols shot 69% from the field on his way to an 18-point game with six rebounds, four assists, and three steals. Michael Skinner was a near perfect 5-6 with his attempts and had a good all-around game with five rebounds, two assists, and two steals.
CMU will take their two-game winning streak back to Brownson Arena for the Holiday Inn-Airport Thanksgiving Classic next weekend. The 3-1 Mavericks will face Graceland University on Friday, Nov. 23 at 7 pm.
