Colorado Mesa University (7-3, 4-1) men's basketball handed visiting Adams State College (7-1, 4-1) its first loss of the season, 81-64 on Saturday night at Brownson Arena.

Michael Bear was perfect on the night going 7 of 7 from the floor and 9 of 9 from the free throw line. Bear finished with 24 points, four blocked shots and five rebounds.

Five Mavericks registered double digits; Mike Melillo and Shawn King had 11 each and Jeff Hart and Blake Francom each finished with 10 points. Francom was 4 of 4 from the field and 2 of 2 from the charity stripe. Francom, Hart and Chandler Burgon had five rebounds each. Melillo recorded a team high six assists, six rebounds and three steals.

CMU led 36-27 at intermission shooting 46 percent (12-26) from the field and was 10 of 10 from the foul line.

Bear opened the second half with a jumper to push the lead to 11 points (38-27). CMU held a 14 point lead (47-33) at 15:40 before the Grizzlies went on a 9-0 run to pull to within 47-42 (12:17). The Mavericks pushed the lead back to double digits for a 68-53 advantage with 5:07 remaining. ASC would put together one more run; a 10-3 spurt and an eight point deficit (71-63) at 3:43 left in the game.  CMU closed out the contest with a 10-1 run, handing the Grizzlies the loss.  

CMU shot 54 percent (22-41) and held ASC to 32 percent (20-63) shooting. ASC was led by Jack Osborn's 11 points and six rebounds.

CMU will return to action on December 30 at Metro State College.