You’ll find peaks and valleys while watching a basketball game between two teams. For Colorado Mesa University, they have experienced more peaks, literally and figuratively, as the high flying, athletic Mavericks continued their scorching hot start to the season with an 89-79 home victory over UCCS Friday night.
The Mountain Lions were physical with the Mavericks throughout the game, but it never fazed CMU, especially center Damon Dubots, who was a force down low and threw down thunderous dunks en route to a game-high 23 points on 8-10 shooting.
CMU went on a 22-5 run to grab an early 22-11 lead seven minutes into the first half. The energy was instant with players on both sides trying feverishly to push the floor and grab quick buckets.
“[UCCS’s] physicality really bothers in the first half and we gave up a lot of points because of it,” Head coach Mike DeGeorge said. “At halftime, I thought we did a better job defensively coming out in the second half. Offensively, they started to change defenses on us and went to a zone and more soft pressure and by the time we were getting the ball entered into our offense, the shot clock was winding down so we really had disjointed offensive possessions.”
The Mavericks combatted UCCS coach Jeff Culver’s defensive adjustments by placing guard Tommy Nuno on the inside against the 2-3 zone, which opened the offense back up for the Mavericks and created more looks for shooters on the weak side.
Nuno had another strong game and finished two assists shy of a triple-double. The junior scored 15 points, grabbed 11 rebounds and dished out eight assists. He was a boost of energy who had a one-handed slam dunk of his own on a fast break to give CMU their 22-11 lead.
Although the Mountain Lions played a solid first half, the Mavericks sharp shooting from three gave them a 52-40 advantage after 20 minutes. CMU shot 72% (21-29) in the first half, including 5-9 from long range. Dubots and Conner Nichols sparked the Mavericks in the first half and combined to score 26 points on 11-14 shooting.
“It helps a lot and spreads out the floor with all those shooters lined up around the outside,” guard Michael Skinner said about Nichols and Dubots. “It opens up the middle. Guys like me, Tommy we can drive which opens up turns for Damon so he can get his hooks in. All that goes together really well.”
CMU came out of the half with their adjustments and grabbed their biggest lead of the night, a 60-42 advantage. However, the Mountain Lions went into their full-court press and 2-3 zone, which stifled the Mavericks for a while in the second half and allowed UCCS to mount a short comeback.
Led by Daraun Clark and Dalton Walker, UCCS cut the deficit to five with nine minutes remaining. After a few free throws by Dubots to make it 68-61, the Mountain Lions employed an interesting strategy.
Applying the full court press and down just seven, the Mountain Lions immediately fouled point guard Brandon Hoffer three consecutive times after the entry pass to trigger one-in-one opportunities at the free throw line. Hoffer came into the game a 57% shooter at the line, but the “Hack-a-Hoffer” decision was one that didn’t pay off for UCCS.
“I was shocked,” DeGeorge said. “I was surprised by the strategy. I thought Brandon handled it well. It’s kind of a weird scenario to be in. It got us in the double bonus and he made some free throws to get [UCCS] out of it.”
Although the game slowed down, it allowed Kolton Peterson and Dubots to catch fire offensively, and the two went back and forth to give CMU a commanding lead to seal the victory.
The Mavericks had nine turnovers and 38 points in the paint as they continue to find success in all areas offensively. CMU shot 52.6% (30-57) from the field and were a strong 21-30 from the line, all while limiting the Mountain Lions to 28-66 from the floor.
Nichols finished with 16 points while Peterson was 4-8 from deep to score 12 points. Clark led UCCS with 17 points while Walker, who had an empathic block and multiple powerful dunks, chipped in 16.
