GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. – The Colorado Mesa men's basketball team stubbed their toe on Friday evening in a rivalry matchup with Fort Lewis, falling 85-68 to the Skyhawks in Brownson Arena. The Mavericks fall to 17-9 on the season and 12-8 in the conference and continue to sit in seventh place in the conference standings with two games to play.
 
Fort Lewis jumped out to a 42-35 lead at half after shooting nearly 60 percent from the field including over 55 percent from beyond the three-point line.
 
The Skyhawks led by as many as 21 points with 8:53 to play in the game but Colorado Mesa cut the lead to 12 with 5:53 to play after a lay-in by Kenzo Nudo made it 72-60 but that was all the closer they would get.
 
Fort Lewis' biggest advantage came on the galss as they outrebounded the Mavericks 37-20.
 
Connor Nichols finished with a team-high 16 points while Damon Dubots finished with 12 points.
 
Otas Iyetekpolor led all scorers with 23 points and he completed his double-double with 12 rebounds in the contest.
 
Colorado Mesa will take on Adams State tomorrow evening at 7:30pm. At halftime of the game, the Mavericks will honor the RMAC Championship team from 1998-99 season.