It is always disappointing to end the season on a loss knowing you are not going to the playoffs. It is another thing to end the season on a six-game losing streak. The Colorado Mesa University men’s basketball team suffered a rather crushing 98-84 loss against New Mexico Highlands University to end their season.
The Mavericks, coming into Saturday, were losers of five straight matchups and had a chance to end the season on a small high note by knocking off New Mexico Highlands. Yet, the Cowboys had another idea in mind.
The first half was the same as it has been all year. CMU took the lead early with excellent scoring and rebounding. Leading scorer Connor Nichols put up 15 points and two rebounds in the first half followed by CJ Davis who scored 14 points of his own.
Nichols finished with a team-high 27 points and seven rebounds.
The Mavericks have shown great first half consistency all year, in which is something to be proud of, and against NMHU was no different. CMU shot 65 percent from the field and lead 47-43 heading into halftime.
But as consistent they were at performing in the first half, just like the rest of the season, CMU fell off in the second and the Cowboys went on an offensive tangent.
Junior Adrian LaFleur managed to put up 16 points for the Cowboys in which was a part of NMHU to shoot 62 percent from the field in the second half compared to their 34 percent in the first half.
The Mavericks would score only 37 points in the second half and shoot 44 percent from the field. The Cowboys would put 55 on the board in the second half to seal the evident 98-84 win.
CMU will not be in the RMAC Tournament as they were not in the top eight seeds in the conference and their season comes to a close after losing the final six games of the season. The Mavericks finished with an 11-17 record and a 7-15 conference record.
