The Mavericks play spoiler on the Skyhawks senior night as they held on to win 81-75 in overtime in the final game of the regular season.
Colorado Mesa University (CMU) went 18-21 from the free-throw line to pull out the win. The Mavericks shot 42.9% from the field and 31% from beyond the three-point arc.
Redshirt freshman guard Blaise Threatt recorded his second double-double of the season as he scored a team-high 19 points and pulled down 14 rebounds. He shot 6-15 from the field in the game and made three shots from beyond the three-point arc.
Fort Lewis College (FLC) jumped out to a 6-0 lead with 17:50 left in the first half. Threatt answered with two consecutive three-pointers to tie the game at six two minutes later.
Redshirt freshman guard Mac Riniker gave CMU a 13-8 lead with 14:07 left in the half as he buried his lone three-pointer of the game. Redshirt freshman forwards Trevor Baskin and Michael McCurry lifted the Mavericks lead to ten points as McCurry hit a three-pointer and Baskin carved into the paint to finish at the rim.
FLC worked themselves back into the game behind back-to-back three-pointers to cut the lead to 16-19 with ten minutes left in the first half. Riley Farris and Dunnell Stafford came back with five points of their own to take a two-point lead with 9:15 left in the first half.
Both teams went back-and-forth as CMU held a 29-26 lead going into the final five minutes of the half.
CMU and FLC’s offenses cooled off in the final five minutes of the first half as each team made one bucket and the Mavericks took a 32-28 into the halftime break.
The Mavericks continued to hold the momentum in the game as they held a 43-39 lead with 14:52 left in regulation. The Skyhawk’s offense hung around though as they tied the game at 48 with 10 minutes remaining in regulation, and the back-and-forth nature of the game continued.
The lead changed five times in the final ten minutes of the game, and Jacquess Hobbs gave FLC 54-53 lead with 8:01 left in regulation. Redshirt freshman guard Christopher Speller and Hobbs traded the lead twice a minute later as they beat their defender to finish over their defenders.
FLC’s offense kicked into gear as they built a 66-59 lead with 3:46 left in the regulation as Farris scored five of their six points.
The Mavericks stormed back with seven points of their own to take a 67-66 lead two minutes later. Farris and Small traded the lead once more before Small gave the Mavericks a one-point lead in the final minute.
Hobbs tied the game at 69 at the free-throw line with eight seconds left to send the game to send it into overtime.
Stafford and Riniker continued the back-and-forth trend as the game remained tied at 71 just 22 seconds into overtime. Both teams continued to execute at a high level on the defensive end as there was a two-minute scoring drought before Threatt gave CMU a two-point lead as he carved into the paint to finish at the rim.
Riniker blew past his defender to finish with a huge slam dunk with 1:41 left in the game and gave CMU a 75-74. Farris tied the game up at 75 with 46 seconds left in overtime at the free-throw line.
The Mavericks closed out the game going 6-6 from the free-throw line to close out the game and pull out their 81-75 win over the Skyhawks.
Riniker was CMU’s second-leading scorer with 18 points in the game and he pulled down four rebounds as well. He recorded two steals against the Skyhawks.
CMU’s next game will be in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Quarterfinals on Tuesday, March 1. The time of the game and the opponent for CMU is yet to be determined. Check the CMU Athletics website for updates.
