Last Time
The Colorado Mesa Men's basketball team competed in the Division II Challenge, which was hosted by Colorado Christian in Lakewood back on November 8-9. The Mavericks suffered two heartbreaking losses to St. Edwards and Dallas Baptist. They lost by a combined four points that included a buzzer beater against the St. Edwards Hilltoppers.
 
Comfort Inn Classic
With a week off from competition the team is rested up and ready and shifting their focus to the Comfort Inn Classic where they will take on Pacific Union College and Midland University.

• Colorado Mesa has fared well in the tournament going 6-2 in eight games since 2015.
• The Mavericks currently on a four game winning streak in this tournament dating back to the 2017 season.
• The Mavericks two opponents are from NAIA. They are currently on a ten game winning streak against NAIA opponents since the 2009-10 campaign.

 
Balling with the Mavericks
Colorado Mesa is led by senior guards in Tommy Nuno and Michael Skinner who have combined to average 36.5 points through two games to spearhead the CMU offensive attack. 

• Skinner leads the team with 18.5 points (6^th in the RMAC) per game along with 6.5 rebounds. He currently leads the conference in field goal percentage, shooting 73.3 percent.
• Nuno is close behind with 18 points per contest (7^th) and leads the team in steals with three. The senior is leading the conference in free throw percentage (1.000).
• Georgie Dancer has chipped-in as well, averaging 11.5 points per game. Dancer is leading the team in assists with nine and has shot 42.9 percent from the field including 13-of-41 from beyond the arc.

 
Scouting Pacific Union College
The Mavs will begin the weekend taking the court against the Pioneers on Friday in Paul Wright Gymnasium. It is the first-ever meeting between the two teams.

• The Pioneers enter the weekend with a 1-8 record overall.  They come in to Gunnison on a five game losing streak. As a team Pacific Union averages 72 points a game while giving up 85. They shoot 41.8 percent as well, while allowing opponents to shoot over 49 percent from the field. PUC averages 27 rebounds while surrendering 41 a contest.
• Isaiah McCullough and Marc Williams power Pacific Union. Williams averages 13.3 points per game including a season-high 27 against Eastern Oregon. He shoots 35.6 percent from field with a 32 percent clip from beyond the arc and is 17-of-20 from the free throw line. McCullough averages 11 points and is second on the team with 14 assists.
• The Pioneers also have two more key players to keep an eye on. Tim Ford leads the Pioneers in rebounding with 6.2 rebounds per game and averages 10.4 points per game. RJ Arciago leads in three-point percentage at 46.7 percent, shooting 7-of-15 from beyond the arc.

 
Scouting the Midland Warriors
Midland University will face CMU on Saturday to close out the Comfort Inn Classic for both teams. The Warriors enter the weekend with a record of 2-4.

• The Warriors are led by 6-8 forward Ryan Williams who leads the team in scoring with 18.3 points per game. He also pulls down a team high 8.5 rebounds per game and has 51 total rebounds on the year. He has a team-high three blocks through six games. He also leads the team in turnovers with 18.
• They also have another player who averages double-digit points in Laurence Merritt. The 5-11 guard averages 13.6 points per game. Merritt also leads in three point percentage with 52 percent from deep.
• Another Warriors player to pay attention to is Jake Rueschhoff who leads the Warriors in assists with 14.
• MU averages 72 points as a team per night while giving up 78. The Warriors dominate the glass securing 41 rebounds on average, while giving up 27.

 
Next on the Docket
This will be the final tune-up for Colorado Mesa before opening the home slate the day after Thanksgiving, where they will face Missouri Western State and Montana Western on November 29^th and 30^th respectively in Brownson Arena
 
Extra Notes:

• Tommy Nuno has started in all but one game as a Maverick, which occurred on the road at Westminster College last February.
• CMU also has two players from Half Moon Bay, Calif. Freshman Ethan Menzies and Senior Tommy Nuno. They both attended Half Moon Bay High School.
• Head coach Mike DeGeorge played golf at Monmouth College for two years, while playing basketball.
• Since 2017-2018 season the Mavericks a six game winning streak at Paul Wright Gym, the last loss was a buzzer-beater back in 2016 against Western Colorado University.