The game definitely was not won from deep.  

The Colorado Mesa University (CMU) Men’s basketball team only made one three pointer out of nine attempts against South Dakota School of Mines (SDSM) on Saturday. However, the Mavericks used the paint to propel themselves over the Hardrockers 77-71.

CMU dominated the board as they scored 42 points in the paint after grabbing 34 rebounds.

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Connor Nicholas led the Mavericks for the second night in a row in scoring by putting up 19 points to go along with his three assists, three steals and one assist.  Nichols continues to propel himself in the scoring section as he leads the team with 18.2 points per game (ppg). 

Emilio Acedo rebounded after scoring only 11 points against Black Hills State on Friday as the stand out transfer scored 16 points with his four assists and three steals.

Five Mavericks scored in double digits on Saturday.

SDSM was unable to gain any significant lead as their biggest lead of the game was by only two points early in the first half.  The Mavericks, however, lead by six going into halftime with the 35-29 lead.  

CMU shot 54 percent from the field during the game and solid defense kept the Hardrockers at 40 percent.  

The Mavericks never lost control throughout the entire game in which was a significant improvement from where they have been in the last month and the with the win against Black Hills State the night before, CMU won their first set of consecutive games since Nov. 24-25.

CMU improves to 10-11 on the season and will attempt to get back to .500 when they travel to Gunnison, Colo. on Jan. 30 to take on Western State.