Ethan Richardson, the 6’10” center put the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference (RMAC) on notice with a double-double of 21 points and 10 rebounds in his second game.
Richardson joined the Colorado Mesa University (CMU) men’s basketball roster the first week of the month, and he already has become a key part of the Mavericks offensive game plan as he had his first double-double of the season in just his second game since March 2019.
“Last night, that was Tommy’s game, that was his game to take over, that was just how the game went and they gave him good looks. I feel like tonight it was just my night, it depends on matchups… they couldn’t guard me today; they couldn’t guard Tom yesterday,” Richardson said. “Next game it could be Skinner, that’s the thing I like about this team, it’s not just one guy, any guy any night could go off and do what needs to be done for the win.”
Jared Small joined in the party for breakout games as he scored his season-high of 17 points against Colorado State University-Pueblo (CSUP) and Small also shot 60 percent from behind the arc. Tommy Nuno and Michael Skinner both had 15 points as they both got into the paint at will against the undersized Thunderwolves squad.
The first half was battle as there were six lead changes and eight ties, but the Mavericks controlled the offensive and defensive glass as they had compiled 21 rebounds compared to the Thunderwolves nine. CMU’s effort in the first had them in the lead by two points going into the break, but they had scored 24 of their 41 points in the paint as they controlled CSUP’s big men.
The Mavericks bench was the story of the second half as they scored 31 of CMU’s 45 points in the second. With the lead growing, the Thunderwolves were forced to go with a smaller lineup against the two CMU bigs, but their speed allowed them to stay in the game. The Mavericks made the adjustment and went small to combat CSUP, and that is when CMU’s lead opened up with Richardson controlling his matchup in the paint in the second half as he scored 15 points on 7-8 shooting along with six rebounds.
“After losing those two games last week, we realized we had to invest in the two Ethan’s to be our screen and roll guys and then making quicker decisions on the perimeter and getting better ball movement out of that,” DeGeorge said. “It’s been a point of emphasis and obviously we got to a point where we just have to invest in this and make it happen because it is going to be the best way for us to play and we have the personnel to do it now.”
CMU shot 59.3 percent from the field against the Thunderwolves in the game, as they got into the paint for high percentage looks on almost every possession. The Mavericks also had 23 assists in the game as the ball was finding the open man every time down the floor for open looks at the basket.
CMU’s next game will be Jan. 17 at 7:30 p.m. against Adams State University in Brownson Arena as the Mavericks try to extend their winning streak to three games.
