GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. – The Colorado Mesa men's basketball team will head out on their second straight road trip when they head south to take on the Adams State Grizzlies and the Fort Lewis Skyhawks.
 
RANKINGS
The Mavericks are on the outside of the NABC rankings looking in in the rankings released this week but there are a couple of interesting takeaways from it. Colorado Mesa is 1-1 against teams in the top 25, holding a win over No. 20 Texas A&M-Commerce 102-83 on November 16 in Gunnison while their loss came at the hands of No. 4 St. Edward's 84-72 on November 10 in Austin, Texas.
 
STANDINGS
Colorado Mesa holds at No. 5 in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference standings after last weekend's road split. Colorado School of Mines is in first place with unbeaten 9-0 mark then a log jam for second with three schools tied with a 7-2 mark that include New Mexico Highlands, Regis, and UCCS.
 
The top eight teams will make the RMAC Tournament which begins on Tuesday March 5.
 
WINNING
With the win on Saturday over CSU-Pueblo, the Mavericks moved to 11-4 on the season. The 11 wins matches the win total from last year's 11-17 overall record.
 
DO EVERYTHING
Senior Michael Skinner was injured in the eighth game of his junior season and was forced to sit out the remainder of the season with the injury. In his final season, he has shown how valuable he is. The Thornton, Colo. native is averaging 6.1 points, 3.5 rebounds and just over an assist a game.
 
Last weekend, Skinner scored 10 points and pulled down five rebounds in the loss to Highlands and came back the next night and scored nine points, grabbed 11 rebounds, had four steals and handed out four assists in the win over CSU-Pueblo.
 
SCOUTING THE GRIZZLIES
Adams State is currently 4-10 overall and 4-5 in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference. The Grizzlies are coming off a weekend where they were swept at home by Colorado School of Mines and UCCS, a pair of top half of the conference opponents.
 
Adams State has three players that average double digits in points, led by John Dewey who nets 17.9 points per contest. Teammate Davere Creighton averages 14.9 points per game and pulls down a team-high 7.9 rebounds per game.
 
Last season, the two teams split the two season matchups with each winning on their opponents home floor.
 
Last Five Meetings
February 9, 2018 – Adams State 96, @ Colorado Mesa 83
December 9, 2017 – Colorado Mesa 90, @ Adams State 87 OT
February 10, 2017 – @ Adams State 70, Colorado Mesa 67
December 10, 2016 – @ Colorado Mesa 91, Adams State 82
January 16, 2016 – @ Colorado Mesa 88, Adams State 71
 
SCOUTING THE SKYHAWKS
Fort Lewis enters the weekend with a 7-8 overall record and 2-7 in the conference. Despite the record not where the Skyhawks are used to, they are plenty dangerous and a long-standing rivalry makes this contest interesting.
 
The Skyhawks are coming off a weekend where they fell to UCCS 100-99 at home on a made Mountain Lion free-throw with just two seconds remaining and a 92-79 loss to RMAC leading Colorado School of Mines.
 
Fort Lewis has a two-headed monster attack with senior Marquel Beasley and Alex Semadeni. Beasley averages 17.7 points and 6.2 rebounds a night, while Semadeni pours in 12.9 and pulls down 6.3 rebounds per game. Beasley has scored in double-figures in 14 of the 15 games this season while Semadeni scored a career-high 37 points in the overtime win over Chadron State.
 
Last Five Meetings
February 10, 2018 – Fort Lewis 94, @ Colorado Mesa 89 OT
December 8, 2017 – @ Fort Lewis 96, Colorado Mesa 80
February 11, 2017 – @ #20 Fort Lewis 90, Colorado Mesa 71
December 9, 2016 – #20 Fort Lewis 89, @ Colorado Mesa 72
January 15, 2016 – @ Colorado Mesa 75, Fort Lewis 72