AUSTIN, Texas – The Colorado Mesa men's basketball team opened the season on Friday evening at the D2 Conference Challenge event at St. Edward's University. The Mavericks got the season off on the right foot with a 91-80 win over No. 21 Dallas Baptist to earn win No. 1 in the Mike DeGeorge era.
 
The last time the Mavericks won their season opener was also against Dallas Baptist in the 2014-15 season, a 92-89 win over the Patriots on the same floor they played on tonight.
 
Senior Connor Nichols led all scorers in the game with 24 points on 8-of-14 shooting from the field. Nichols made three three-point baskets and was 5-for-6 from the free-throw line. He also finished with a game-high eight rebounds.
 
The Mavericks never trailed in the game led by as many as 23 points with 9:38 to play in the second half following a steal by Tommy Nuno and a jumper by Kolten Peterson.
 
Dallas Baptist went on a run following that lead and cut the Colorado Mesa lead to as little as eight at 88-80 with just 55 seconds left to play. But, Nichols was 3-for-4 from the line to hold off the Patriot rally.
 
Colorado Mesa finished with a 33-29 advantage on the glass despite giving up a height advantage at times with a small lineup on the floor. The 6-5 Jess Spivey was the Mavericks second leading rebounder with seven boards.
 
Senior transfer Sam Walters finished with 19 points on 6-of-8 shooting from the field. The UC Santa Barbara transfer buried five three-pointers and was a perfect 2-for-2 from the charity stripe.
 
Peterson finished with 11 points to round out the Mavericks in double figures.
 
The last time the Mavericks defeated a ranked team was January 15, 2016 when they defeated Fort Lewis 75-72 in Grand Junction.
 
Colorado Mesa will close out the opening weekend by taking on the host St. Edward's Hilltoppers at 3pm on Saturday (Nov. 10). The Hilltoppers defeated Colorado Christian 93-67 on Friday in the other half of the D2 Conference Challenge.