Sports Reporter
Maverick basketball was back at Brownson arena this past weekend as CMU hosted the Holiday Inn-Airport Thanksgiving Classic.
The No. 8 ranked Maverick women started off the night against Western Montana, and showcased to a rowdy Brownson Arena that it could be another special season for coach Taylor Wagner and the 2013-14 Mavericks. The Mavs dominated the Bulldogs, winning in blowout fashion 74-46. Despite losing almost all the starters from the NCAA Elite Eight team of last season, the Mavericks picked up right where they left off.
The Mavs were lead friday night by Aubry Boehme’s 23 points, with 17 of those points coming in the first half. The senior forward shot 11 of 13 from the field and converted her one free throw, propelling the Mavericks to an impressive home victory. The Mavericks dished the rock as well, totaling 26 assists on their 29 baskets, and the ball movement opened up shooters from behind the arc, specifically Taylor Rock, who hit three consecutive three pointers at one point to push the lead from 15 to 24. Defense played a large role in the outcome, as the Mavs held the Bulldogs to 35 percent shooting, and 1-16 from behind the arc.
Saturday night’s game versus Dixie state proved to be very similar as Friday night’s. The Maverick defense locked up the Red Storm shooters, holding them to 32 percent shooting from the field. The Mavericks opened the game strong with a 28-8 run, lead this time by Sharaya Selsor, who had 17 of her game-high 23 points in the first half as the Mavericks went into the locker room with a 52-18 lead.
The Mavs dominated in every area of the game, out-rebounding the Red Storm 60-37 while forcing 17 turnovers. The Mavericks (4-0) will prepare for RMAC play next weekend, hosting Black Hills State and Chadron State.
The men’s team entered this weekend still searching for their first victory under first-year head coach Andy Shantz.
Friday night’s game versus Western Montana was an evenly matched affair, with both teams shooting just under 50 percent in the first half. The Bulldogs had their largest lead at 26-17 in the first half, before the Mavs went on a 12-4 run to pull within one point going into halftime.
The Mavs came out of the break on a quick run, building a 10-point lead. However, the Bulldogs managed to keep the game close, mainly due to poor free throw shooting by the Mavericks, who shot 54 percent from the line after entering the weekend ranked second in the league in free throw percentage, making just under 80 percent from the charity stripe.
The Mavericks were able to keep the Bulldogs at bay, and notched their first victory of the season and of Shantz’s coaching career, winning 69-64. Jerry Duckworth had the hot hand for the Mavs, finishing with 15 points, going 5-5 from behind the arc.
Mike Melillo lit up the stat sheet, raking in a double-double with 13 points and 12 rebounds while dishing out five assists.
Sunday night had all the hype of a regular RMAC season game, although it did not count towards the conference records.
CSU-Pueblo came out of the gates on fire, quickly building and maintaining a steady lead over the Mavericks.
“It felt like every time we would come and make a shot and cut away at the lead,” said Shantz, “Pueblo would answer back with another big shot.”
Pueblo was lead by point guard Nate Tigner, who seemed unstoppable in the first half, finishing with 14 points as the Thunderwolves had a 43-37 lead, even with the Mavericks shooting just over 60 percent from the field.
“Coach (Shantz) came in at halftime and really got us going,” said Junior guard Landon Vermeer. “He really stressed toughness, as we really weren’t boxing out like we should and we weren’t matching Pueblo’s aggressive play early on.”
The Thunderwolves came out in a full-court press for the majority of the game, and the Mavericks had a tough time advancing the ball up court and committed a number of turnovers that helped fuel the lead for Pueblo.
“We had practiced against the press all week,” said Shantz. “We struggled a little bit early, but after a while we were able to beat the press and get good looks on the basket, and it really helped us get back into the game.”
The Mavericks trailed most of the game and with a little over four minutes to play were down 64-72. The Mavs stiffened up on defense and Vermeer caught fire, hitting back-to-back threes to cut the lead to 70-75.
The Mavericks forced another Pueblo turnover, and converted it into another three pointer, this time by Melillo, with the assist coming from Vermeer.
“We did a great job of finding the extra pass and knocking down shots,” said Melillo, who finished with 15 points.
The Mavericks still found themselves down 76-77 with under 30 seconds to go before Vermeer found Carlos Perez open on the baseline, who drained a clutch-time jump shot to take a one-point lead. The Mavs then forced an errant shot, which Melillo rebounded. Melillo was then fouled, and converted one of two at the line to give the Mavericks a two-point lead, 79-77.
Tigner of Pueblo had a chance to tie, but had his shot blocked by Joe Kiely to seal the victory for the Mavericks.
“I really got into Joe (Kiely) at the half, and I was very happy with the way he played late in this one and got that huge block to get us the win tonight,” said Shantz.
The Mavericks (2-2), have now won two straight, and Melillo feels that the wins have instilled a big boost of confidence in this team which will help next weekend, as the Mavericks open up RMAC play at home against Black Hills State and Chadron state.
ksparkhu@mavs.coloradomesa.edu
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