The Mavericks clinch the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference (RMAC) Regular Season Championship for the first time in 11 years with a 78-58 win over the Skyhawks.
Colorado Mesa University (CMU) finished the season with an 18-1 record, and they will enter the RMAC Tournament as the No. 1 seed. The Mavericks will also host the tournament in Brownson Arena.
Seniors David Rico and Jeret Schmelling were celebrated on CMU’s senior night against the Skyhawks.
Sophomore forward Ethan Menzies finished with 29 points, nine rebounds and three blocks.
“Everyone’s saying how Riley [Farris] is the best big in the RMAC, so I take that personally. I know I’m only a sophomore, but I take that personally. So, I used that as motivation,” Menzies said.
Freshman guard Blaise Threatt was the second-leading scorer for the Mavericks with 13 points on five of nine shooting from the floor.
Fort Lewis College (FLC) got on the board first in the game as Brendan Boatwright got into the paint to convert the layup. Senior guard Georgie Dancer was quick to answer with a bucket in the paint of his own.
Riley Farris hit a jumper with a defender in his face on the next possession to give FLC the lead back. Dancer tied the game up as he got to the free-throw line and went two for two.
Redshirt freshman guard Mac Riniker gave CMU the lead as he blocked Farris and was able to post up for the hook shot on the next possession. Menzies established himself in the paint as he scored six of CMU’s nine points between 16:34 and 14:33.
Both teams traded shots with Brendan La Rose giving FLC a two-point lead with 9:01 left in the half. Freshman forward Trevor Baskin tied the game up at 21 as he got into the paint to convert the layup.
Baskin hit a three on the next possession to give the Mavericks a three-point lead. Senior guard David Rico hit another three on the following possession to give CMU a six-point lead.
The Mavericks separated from the Skyhawks after the game was tied as they extended their lead up to 15-points with 2:01 left in the first half. Corey Seng hit a three-pointer to cut the Mavericks lead to 12-points.
Riniker opened the second half with a steal, and he charged down the court to slam one home on the fast break.
Boatwright answered with a jumper to cut the Mavericks lead back down to 12 points. The Mavericks scored 10 unanswered points to give them a 22-point lead in response to Boatwright’s bucket.
The Skyhawks were able to respond by cutting the Mavericks lead down to 14-points, but CMU was quick to extend their lead again.
Senior guard Jared Small beat his defender with dribble moves and got into the paint to convert the layup to start CMU’s next run.
The Mavericks went on a 17 to six-run as they pushed their lead up to 27-points which was their largest of the game.
FLC worked tirelessly to try to get back into the game, but the Mavericks kept their foot on the gas pedal as they kept the Skyhawks out of striking range.
The Mavericks outrebounded the Skyhawks as they finished with 36 which was 10 more than FLC.
“We’ve really become a good box-out team, we were getting killed for most of the years on possession like we’ve turned the ball over more than our opponent and we were getting beat on the glass early. The last month, we have really turned it around in terms of our box-outs and dominating the glass on people which is huge because it offsets our turnovers,” DeGeorge said.
CMU’s next game will be Tuesday, March 2 against Chadron State College to kick off the RMAC Tournament.
