The Mavericks NCAA Playoff run ends in the sweet sixteen with a 62-72 loss to the Yellow Jackets.
Colorado Mesa University (CMU) shot 42.9% from the field and shot 25.9% from behind the arc. The Mavericks never led in the game and spent 2:34 of the game tied with the Yellow Jackets.
Redshirt senior guard Jared Small led the Mavericks in scoring with 16 points and pulled down four rebounds in the game.
Adam Moussa got Black Hills State University (BHSU) on the board first in the game as he hit a pull-up jumper in the first minute of the game. There was a three-minute scoring drought for both teams and Threatt answered to tie the game at 2 with 16:31 left in the first half.
The Yellow Jackets hit two three-pointers to take an 8-4 lead with 15:10 left in the first half, but the Mavericks came back with four points of their own to tie the game up at 8.
BHSU took an 18-12 lead with 9:26 left in the half as Moussa hit a step-back three-pointer. Tommy Donovan gave the Yellow Jackets an eight-point lead a minute later as he got into the paint to finish at the rim.
The Mavericks worked back into the game hitting two three-pointers to bring themselves within one point with 6:16 left in the first half.
Both teams traded baskets as BHSU couldn’t build a lead larger than five points as the Mavericks answered each time and went into halftime down by three points.
Joel Scott opened the second half with five consecutive points and Sava Dukic hit a floater to take a 41-31 with 17:34 left in the game. Redshirt freshman forward Trevor Baskin and redshirt freshman guard Reece Johnson made back-to-back three-pointers to cut the lead down to four points four minutes later.
CMU hung around as they were down 46-51 with 9:45 left in the game. Small and Threatt brought the Mavericks within one point three minutes later as they both got into the paint to finish with a floater.
In the final five minutes of the game, BHSU’s offense opened the game up as they took a 57-51. PJ Hayes hit a three-pointer to put the Yellow Jackets up by nine points with 3:30 left in the game which forced the Mavericks to try to work fast on offense to get back in the game.
Small worked fast offensively as he got into the paint and was fouled which sent him to the free-throw line. He hit both shots at the charity stripe to bring CMU within seven points.
Scott and Baskin traded a bucket to keep the CMU deficit at seven points. Hayes and Sindou Cisse lifted the Yellow Jackets lead to 67-55 in the final two minutes of the game.
The Yellow Jackets went four for seven from the free-throw line in the final two minutes of the game as they held on to win the game by seven points. Small scored five of CMU’s seven points in the game as he tried to get the Mavericks back into the game.
Baskin finished the game with 12 points on five of 11 shooting from the field in the game. He made two three-pointers and pulled down five rebounds in the Maverick’s final game of the season.
CMU finished the 2021-22 season with a 26-10 overall record and went 17-5 against Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference opponents. It was also the first time in program history that the Mavericks made it to the sweet sixteen in the NCAA Tournament.
