GUNNISON, Colo. – The Colorado Mesa men's basketball team improved to 2-1 on the season after a 102-83 win over the Texas A&M-Commerce Lions at the Comfort Inn Classic, hosted by Western Colorado University.
 
The Mavericks improve to 2-0 all-time against Texas A&M-Commerce and hit the 100-point mark for the first time since November 18, 2016 when they defeated Dine College 120-33 at the same Comfort Inn Classic they are competing in this weekend.
 
Colorado Mesa took the lead at 6-4 at the 18:23 mark of the first half and never trailed after that. They led by as many as 28 after a breakaway dunk by Michael Skinner to make it 87-59 with 5:10 left to play in the game.
 
The Mavericks shot 56.9 percent (33-for-58) including 44 percent (11-for-25) from the three-point line while limiting the Lions to just 43.9 percent (29-for-66) from the field. CMU forced Commerce into 18 turnovers which led to 25 points off of those turnovers.
 
Connor Nichols led five Colorado Mesa players in double-digit scoring with a game-high 19 points on 7-for-9 shooting from the field. Nichols 2-for-3 from three and completed his first double-double of the season with 11 rebounds before fouling out with 4:15 to play.
 
The Mavericks got huge contributions from the bench as they scored 54 points from there while Commerce only had 31 bench points. Newcomer Jess Spivey scored a season-high 17 points on 6-for-11 shooting from the field while pulling down six rebounds from the bench.
 
Damon Dubots, Kolten Peterson, and Skinner all finished with 14 points.
 
Brandon Hoffer handed out nine assists in 28 minutes of game action.
 
The Mavericks had 11 players play in the game with everyone scoring at least one point with 10 of them recording at least one rebound.
 
Texas A&M-Commerce was led by the 18 points of Trey Conrad.
 
The last time the Mavericks started the season 2-1 or better was in the 2015-16 season where they started the season with wins over Dallas Baptist and Cameron with the lone loss coming to St. Edward's.
 
The Mavericks will close out the Comfort Inn Classic with a matchup against Northern New Mexico on Saturday in Paul Wright Gym. Tip-off is scheduled for 5pm.