GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. – The Colorado Mesa men's basketball team will host the annual Holiday Inn and Suites Thanksgiving Classic this weekend in Brownson Arena. The Mavericks will take on Graceland University and Fisher College on Friday (Nov. 23) and Saturday (Nov. 24) in this year's version of the classic.
 
GOOD START
Colorado Mesa is off to a 3-1 start to the season which is on par with the conference leader through two weekends of action. No one is left undefeated in the RMAC with New Mexico Highlands, Fort Lewis, and Regis amongst the other teams with one loss.
 
The last time the Mavericks started the season 3-1 was during the 2014-15 season in which they finished the season 19-10 and opened the season with wins over Dallas Baptist, Colorado College and Northern New Mexico.
 
GOOD SHOTS
One of the reasons for the hot start by the Mavericks may be shot selection as they lead the RMAC and rank second nationally in field goal percentage. They are hitting on 58.3 percent of their shots which is just .1 behind national leader Charleston (WV).
 
Not only do they rank No. 2 in field goal percentage but also in three-point field goal percentage at 50 percent. Southwest Minnesota State leads the nation in three-point field goal percentage at 56.9 percent.
 
Senior big man Damon Dubots leads the team in field goal percentage, hitting on 65.6 percent of his shots. His mark ranks second in the RMAC and 41^st nationally. Meanwhile, graduate transfer Sam Walters leads the team in three-point percentage at 55 percent which ranks second in the conference and 34^th nationally.
 
DIMES
Senior guard Brandon Hoffer continues to be one of the best distributers the Mavericks have had. Hoffer now has 395 assists in his career and ranks first in the RMAC in assists per game with 6.5 a night this season.
 
A year ago, Hoffer finished seventh in the country in assist-to-turnover ratio at 3.32 assists to every turnover. He currently is seventh in the RMAC at 2.36 assists-tot-turnovers.
 
SCOUTING THE JACKETS
Colorado Mesa will meet up with Graceland University for the first time on Friday night. The Jackets won the NAIA Division I National Championship a year ago after defeating LSU-Alexandria 83-80 in overtime to claim the title.
 
Graceland is currently riding a 17-game winning streak into the weekend after defeating Culver-Stockton on Tuesday night 77-45. Their last loss came on February 17, an 88-80 setback to Peru State.
 
The Jackets were receiving votes in the preseason NAIA national rankings.
 
SCOUTING THE FALCONS
The Fisher Falcons are another squad the Mavericks have never faced before. Fisher will enter this weekend with a 3-4 overall record after an 82-78 setback to Vermont Tech prior to the trek out to Grand Junction from Boston.
 
Their roster is comprised of 13 players with five of them hailing from California or Arizona.
 
WHAT'S NEXT
Colorado Mesa will start Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference play next week on the road as they face Western Colorado on December 1 at 7pm in Gunnison. The Mavericks conference home opener will be on December 7 at 7:30pm against UCCS.