GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. – The Colorado Mesa men's basketball team sent their seniors out on a winning note in their final regular season game in Brownson Arena with an 83-63 win over Western State on Friday evening.
 
Western (6-22, 2-19 RMAC) jumped out to their biggest lead of seven at 17-10 with 11:27 to play in the first half. The Mountaineers hit four three-pointers in that span but after that it was all Colorado Mesa.
 
The Mavericks (19-9, 14-8 RMAC) took the lead for the first time with 6:28 to play in the first half after senior Trent Clay hit a pair of free-throws to make it 25-23. The Aurora native finished his final game in Brownson Arena with eight points, two rebounds and a steal.
 
Colorado Mesa grew their lead to as many as 25 in the second half after a three-pointer from senior Sam Walters to make it 81-56 with 3:11 to play. Walters finished the night with nine points and five rebounds.
 
Senior Connor Nichols saved one of his best nights for last. The Scottsdale native finished with 23 points on 10-of-21 shooting from the field and completed the double-double with 12 rebounds. The double-double is the third of the season for Nichols and the first since the Mavericks win over Fisher College in the Holiday Inn Thanksgiving Classic.
 
Junior Tommy Nuno finished with 20 points and was the only other Mavericks in double-digit scoring.
 
Colorado Mesa earned the No. 5 seed in the RMAC Tournament and will travel to No. 4 seed Black Hills State on Tuesday at 6pm in the Young Center. The Mavericks defeated the Yellowjackets in their only meeting this season on January 5 in Grand Junction, 78-74.
 
This is the first tournament appearance for the Mavericks since the 2015-16 season where they defeated New Mexico Highlands 95-77 in Brownson Arena before falling to Colorado School of Mines 84-73 in the semifinals of the RMAC Tournament.