The Mavericks bounced back from their loss with an 81-72 victory over the Mountaineers behind a balanced scoring attack.
The Mavericks matched the second-lowest number of turnovers in a game all season with just eight in the game.
“The possession battle is so important and these last couple of years, we’ve had a dominant average when we get a shot versus when our opponent gets a shot, but we lose the possession battle,” Head Coach Mike DeGeorge said.
We haven’t been a great rebounding team and we lose to turnovers, and you are just playing against such a deficit when the team every game is just getting more possessions than you. […] Not only does it help that, but guys are getting more touches and more shots because we are having positive outcomes and that helps as well just keeping more guys in the flow offensively.”
Colorado Mesa University (CMU) had four different players score in double figures in the game. The Mavericks shot 51.6% from the field and they scored 54 points in the paint as they were dominant inside the lane.
Redshirt freshman forward Trevor Baskin recorded his fourth double-double of the season as he finished the game with 21 points and 13 rebounds. Baskin shot nine of 13 from the field including one three-pointer against the Mountaineers.
“Steve [Mundee], we made it a focal point after I rolled my ankle against Regis that I will play in these games. I went into rehab twice a day, three times on Thursday, and did pool workouts. It’s still not 100%, there were some moments where I noticed that it wasn’t where I wanted to be and where I’m used to. It felt good to see the ball go through the hoop after the rough weekend I had on the road,” Baskin said.
The opening five minutes of the game were a battle for momentum as the game was tied at eight with 15:18 left in the first half. Redshirt senior guard Georgie Dancer gave CMU a 21-13 lead three minutes later as he pulled up from three with no defender there to contest the shot.
The Mavericks continued to push as they built a 10-point lead with 9:51 left in the first half. Western Colorado University (WCU) answered with 12 consecutive points of their own to take a 27-25 lead with 3:21 left in the half.
Both teams traded a couple of buckets, but CMU held a 31-29 lead in the final minute and a half of the first half. In the final ten seconds of the half, Matthew Ragsdale got a defensive rebound and worked quickly up the floor to heave a half-court shot that found the bottom of the net to give WCU a 32-31 lead going into the halftime break.
The Mavericks opened the second half with a 16 to one run that gave them a 47-33 lead with 15:04 left in the game. WCU scored five points in 30 seconds to try to cut into the Mavericks lead.
Redshirt freshman guard Reece Johnson lifted CMU’s lead back up to double-digits as he answered with a three-pointer of his own. Redshirt freshman guard Blaise Threatt gave CMU a 58-42 lead with 12:19 left in the second half as he carved into the paint past his defender to finish at the rim.
The Mountaineers tried to chip away at the lead, but the Mavericks continued to execute offensively as they held a 14-point lead with 7:07 left in the game. The Mountaineer’s offense was working to get back into the game, but each time WCU scored, CMU answered with a bucket of their own to keep their lead in the double-digits.
Dancer kept the Maverick’s lead at 12 points as he backed his defender into the paint and finished with a hook shot with 1:23 left in the game. The Mountaineers cut the lead down to seven points as Will Willis got into the lane on the fast break to finish at the rim.
CMU held on to win the game 81-72 despite WCU’s attempts to extend the game by fouling the Mavericks.
Threatt was the Maverick’s second-leading scorer with 17 points as he shot seven of 13 from the field in the game. He pulled down five rebounds and dished out two assists in the game.
Dancer finished the game with 16 points, and he shot an even 50% from the field against the Mountaineers. He had a team-high five assists in the game and pulled down four rebounds.
“He’s a winner and that’s the number one thing. He’s doing whatever he needs to do to win the game and he really understands the flow and understanding of our offense and how to attack the matchups,” DeGeorge said.
Some of the guys get a little confused with that sometimes so he is a calming force out there and was organizing and tonight it was good to see him get some more shots and that is going to be important for us down the stretch is having him be an integral part of not only getting other guys shots but getting shots himself so it was good to see him in the offensive flow.”
CMU’s next game is Tuesday, Feb. 1 at 7:00 p.m. against Westminster College in Salt Lake City, Utah.
