In a quarterfinal matchup that had 10 lead changes and multiple occurrences with a tie score, it was everything you would come to expect out of a playoff game.

Unfortunately for Colorado Mesa University, Black Hills State University made a few more plays in their 73-70 victory in the quarterfinal of the 2019 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Tournament Tuesday night.

Supported by the home crowd and an electric atmosphere, Dez Stoudamire dropped 28 points in the dominant effort for the Yellowjackets.
20-13 Yellowjackets through the first eight minutes. A pull-up three-pointer and one sent home crowd in a craze.

BHS began to inch away from CMU with the lead but a few smart plays placed the Mavericks in a good position heading into the half.

Brandon Hoffer dialed up a three to give the Mavericks a 30-28 lead with 5:35 remaining in the first half. The Yellowjackets used their aggressive approach to take the lead before the half, however.

A trio of threes helped BHS regain the lead. Tyler Oliver drained a triple off an assist from Makaleb McInnis. Stoudamire then hit back-to-back threes to help BHS head into the half with a 39-35 lead.

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Connor Nichols led the Mavericks with eight points at halftime but was 4-of-12 from the field. CMU also had trouble to get going from beyond the arc and shot just 4-of-14 from three-point land.

Stoudamire was a force in the first 20 minutes. The nifty guard scored 19 points and was lethal from long range (5-of-6).

Coming out of the half, CMU kept pace with BHS. Dubots finished a few hooks around the basket and Nuno switched to another gear, acting as the driving force for the Maverick offense.

Nuno used a nifty move to tie the score at 58-58. A few moments later, Tyler Oliver split two Maverick defenders to get to the bucket for an and-one finish to secure a 63-60 lead. He did a fine job getting to the basket with his quickness and gave CMU trouble on the outside.

After McInnis hit a leaning jumper with one foot in the air, Nuno again finished a righty layup for the and-one and pull CMU within one with just a little over a minute remaining.

With just twenty seconds left, Jess Spivey was called for a foul down low after a miss from the Yellowjackets which placed Antonio Capley at the line. Capley had no problem at the line and gave BHS a 69-66 lead with 15 seconds remaining.

Nuno was fouled with nine seconds left and made one of two at the charity stripe. Stoudamire nailed both his free throws to further close the gap with a 71-67 lead. Nuno nailed a three to make it a one-point game but McInnis was clutch again with two makes at the line.

With one second left, Nichols sent a heave down the court that was picked off by McInnis which sealed the game and ended CMU’s season.

Nuno scored 22 points on 8-of-10 shooting in the second half on a usage percentage of 37. Nichols failed to convert a field goal in the last 20 minutes, scoring just one point and nine total in the contest, but grabbed nine rebounds.

Dubots scored 15 points with nine rebounds Dubots, Nuno, and Nichols each played above 34 minutes, with Nichols playing the full 40.

Oliver added 14 and McInnis scored 11 for Black Hills.

CMU shot 48 percent (27-of-56) while BHS shot 46 percent (26-of-56). Both teams grabbed 32 rebounds and the Mavericks committed 12 turnovers to the Yellowjacket’s 14.

Mesa finishes the season 19-10.