ST. GEORGE, Utah – Survive and advance.
The Colorado Mesa men's basketball team withstood a final comeback run from the top-seeded and host Dixie State Trailblazers on Friday evening in an 86-79 win to advance to the RMAC Tournament Championship for the first time since 2012.
The win by Colorado Mesa snaps a five game losing streak to Dixie State and gives the Mavericks their first 20-win season since 2016.
The Mavericks built a 41-37 halftime lead and then stretched it out to 12 points with 12:14 left in the game following a
Tommy Nuno layup to make it 63-51. Dixie State got the lead down to one-point with 7:37 left in the game but never led in the second half.
Five different Mavericks finished in double figures led by
Jared Small's 22 points on 5-of-10 shooting from the field and 3-for-5 from beyond the arc. The Denver native was 9-for-10 from the free throw line and made a pair late to ice the game.
Ethan Richardson finished with 17 points on 8-for-11 shooting from the field while
Michael Skinner was 5-for-8 from the field and finished with 15 points.
Senior
Tommy Nuno ended the game with 13 points and eight rebounds while
Kolton Peterson ended with 10 points on 3-for-3 shooting from beyond the three-point line.
Colorado Mesa shot 53.3 percent from three-point land while making 81.5 percent of their free-throws (22-for-27).
Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference player of the year Jack Pagenkopf did his best to keep the Trailblazers in the game. Pagenkopf finished with a game-high 32 points on 13-of-22 shooting from the field and added seven assists in defeat.
The Mavericks will square off with third-seeded Colorado School of Mines at 7pm in Burns Arena for the RMAC Tournament Championship. A win would give the Mavericks their first-ever RMAC Tournament crown and the conference's automatic bid into the NCAA South Central Regional Tournament.
