The Mavericks remain undefeated at home as senior guard Jared Small blocked Matt Kitzman’s potential buzzer beater to tie the game.
Senior guard Georgie Dancer scored a game-high 24 points as he was five for seven from behind the arc. Dancer also contributed six rebounds and four assists in the contest.
“Overall, I was pleased with our effort, I thought we had some stretches where we didn’t rebound and we turned the ball over and we ended up minus 21 possessions in the game,” Head Coach Mike DeGeorge said. “You have to be pretty good if you are going to win down 21 possessions. When we were able to rebound the basketball and take care of it, we were pretty good.”
The Griffins had a 53-50 lead with 7:40 left in the game as Kitzman got into the paint and made a layup to give them a three-point lead.
Colorado Mesa University (CMU) took the lead back two minutes later as sophomore center Ethan Menzies got to the free-throw line and made both. Dancer got into the paint on the next possession and was able to fight through traffic to make a jumper and give CMU a one-point lead.
Both teams traded shots in the final six minutes of the game as neither team could gain a clear edge.
The Mavericks built their lead up to five-points with 1:30 left in the game, but the Griffins didn’t go away. CMU had a three-point lead with 11 seconds left, and they were moving the ball trying to avoid letting Westminster College (WC) foul anyone to extend the game.
The Mavericks found a wide-open Menzies under the rim, who passed it out to freshman guard Reece Johnson on the three-point line wide open.
Johnson took the three and missed which gave WC another chance to tie the game. After Johnson’s miss, Kitzman went to the free-throw line with six seconds left in the game.
“We are up three, eight seconds on the shot and we knew the shot clock was close to the game clock. So, Ethan kicked it out to me and I probably should’ve just sprinted up the floor and held onto it because if we get fouled and make both free-throws, that’s a five-point game,” Johnson said. “Instead, give it back to them and let them have a chance.”
Kitzman made both free throws to bring the game back within one point, but the Griffins needed to foul a Maverick to try and win the game.
Freshman guard Christopher Speller was the one to go to the line for CMU, and he went two for two at the line. With a three-point lead, the Mavericks just needed a stop to win the game.
Kitzman came racing down the floor and pump faked his first shot which got one Maverick in the air, but Small didn’t bite on the fake. Kitzman’s shot left his hand and was immediately blocked by Small which secured CMU’s win to give them a 12-1 record.
The Mavericks were on fire from the three-point line in the first half as they shot 47.1% from behind the arc. Despite CMU’s hot shooting, they trailed 32-35 at halftime.
Dancer led the Mavericks in scoring with 12 points as he was four for four from behind the arc in the first half.
“I was feeling good, anytime you see consecutive shots go down in a row, you get a little bit of confidence. That boost stays with you throughout the game,” Dancer said.
Dancer got on the board first in the game as he made his first three 59 seconds into the game. The Griffins were quick to respond as they took a 11-5 lead within the opening five minutes of the game.
CMU took the lead back two minutes later as Dancer made a three and Johnson made another three on the next possession.
With four minutes left in the half, the Mavericks had extended their lead to ten-points. WC closed out the first half on a 13-0 run which gave them a 32-35 lead going into halftime.
Menzies was the other Maverick to finish in double-figures with 11 points to go along with four rebounds in the contest.
Johnson finished as CMU’s third-leading scorer with eight points.
The Maverick’s next game is Friday, Feb. 5 at 7:30 p.m. against South Dakota Mines in Rapid City, SD.
