The Mavericks advanced to the sweet sixteen for the first time in program history with a 63-62 win over Lubbock Christian University (LCU).
The Chaps were the number one seed in the NCAA South Central Regional Tournament and the seventh-ranked team in the nation.
Redshirt freshman forward Trevor Baskin led Colorado Mesa University (CMU) in scoring with 18 points in the game. He nearly had a double-double as he pulled down nine rebounds in the game.
It was late-game heroics from Baskin and redshirt freshman guards Georgie Dancer and Jared Small that helped secure that game for CMU.
LCU took a 60-59 lead with 56 seconds left as Parker Hicks got into the paint to finish at the rim. Dancer came back off a ball screen from Baskin and threw Baskin an alley-oop through traffic.
Baskin caught the alley-oop to finish with a layup and give CMU a 61-60 lead with 29 seconds left in the game. Small was fouled with eight seconds left in the game and went to the free-throw line to put CMU up 63-60.
The Chaps worked quickly up the court, and Rowan MacKenzie got off a last-second three-pointer that didn’t fall. He was fouled by redshirt freshman guard Reece Johnson, and he was sent to the free-throw line for three shots.
MacKenzie went to the free-throw line and made two of three shots and the Mavericks held on to win the game.
CMU held a 51-39 lead with 8:25 left in the game, but the Chaps went on an 18 to eight run to get back into the game.
The first half opened with CMU jumping out to a 5-0 lead with 18:45 left in the half. LCU worked back into the game to tie the score at seven in the opening five minutes of the game.
Both teams battled for the momentum in the game, but the Chaps held a 15-14 lead with 10:40 left in the first half. The Mavericks answered with back-to-back three-pointers to take a five-point lead with 9:00 minutes left in the first half.
LCU answered with a mini-run of their own as they scored eight consecutive points to take a 23-20 lead.
The Mavericks were able to take the lead a 26-25 with 3:26 remaining in the first half as redshirt freshman guard Blaise Threatt carved into the paint to finish at the rim. Both teams traded the lead back-and-forth in the final three minutes of the first half and LCU held a 31-28 lead with 1:13 left in the half.
Small got to the free-throw line with 54 seconds left in the first half and hit both shots to bring CMU within one point. Redshirt freshman guard Christopher Speller gave the Mavericks the lead a 32-31 to close the first half as he tipped in a missed shot from Threatt as time expired in a play that turned out to be a major play in the game.
Threatt finished with a double-double as he scored 13 points and pulled down 10 rebounds in the game. He shot five of 10 from the field and dished out four assists to help CMU advance.
The Maverick’s next game is Tuesday, March 15 at 6:00 p.m. against Black Hills State University in the NCAA South Central Regional Championship.
