Grand Junction, Colo. – Basketball season is upon us and the Colorado Mesa men's basketball team opens the 2021-2022 campaign at the D2CCA Tip-Off Classic in Canyon, Texas. The Mavericks will play three teams over the span of three days, meeting up with host West Texas A&M, Daemon College and Minnesota State Univ. – Moorhead.
Tickets can be purchased
ONLINE or in advance at the
WTAMU Athletics Ticket Office, located at the First United Bank Center, and will be available at the door. For more information please contact our ticket office at 806-651-1414. Live stream is available for purchase at $10 for a single-day 24-hour pass, all games accessible on the Lone Star Conference Digital Network.
NABC Preseason Poll
Reaching the pinnacle of the program, claiming a No. 1 ranking in the final National Association of Basketball Coaches poll last season, the Mavericks continue to garner national recognition heading into this season, coming in at No. 4 in the preseason poll, and picking up a first-place vote.
Reigning national champions Northwest Missouri State garnered 15 out of the possible 16 first-place votes to take the top-spot. Flagler came in at No. 2, followed by West Texas A&M,
Colorado Mesa, and fellow RMAC member Colorado School of Mines at No.5.
RMAC Favorites
The Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference released their preseason poll, Wednesday as the Mavericks were favored to repeat.
CMU snagged 12 of the 15 first-place votes for 192-points. Colorado School of Mines, Black Hills and Fort Lewis each picked up one of the other three votes, projected to finish 2
nd, 3
rd and 5
th respectively. UCCS garnered 134-points to take the No. 4 spot, completing the top-5.
The Mavericks finished the condensed 2020-21 season with a 21-2 mark, 18-1 in conference play. The team went on an 11-game win streak from the get-go, going on another 10-game streak following their only loss in the loop, which included claiming back-to-back RMAC Tournament titles in a 75-74 overtime thriller over Colorado School of Mines, completing the season with a perfect 6-0 record when pushed into extra time.
With the automatic bid, the team returned to the NCAA Tournament for the second consecutive year, this time as the No. 1 seed in the West Regional.
Familiar Faces
Senior,
Georgie Dancer returns to the Maverick lineup after averaging 12.6 points per game last goa round, and led the team dishing out 67 assists. The Modesto, Calif. native was a constant contributor for CMU throughout the season, leading them to an RMAC regular season title, and back-to-back tournament titles. His efforts landed him on the NABC All-West Region First Team, along with All-RMAC First Team honors. In the tournament championship he produced 18-points, and came away with a key block in the final seconds to force extra time to be voted to the All-Tournament team.
Jared Small is another senior veteran who came in clutch for the Mavs. He averaged 7.2 points coming off the bench, along with 3.9 rebounds and was the fifth player to record double-digit blocks. In the title game, he was 3-for-6 from deep, coming up with a key three-pointer in the final seconds to even the score and force the teams to overtime.
Young Veterans
Christopher Speller,
Reece Johnson,
Trevor Baskin and
Blaise Threatt all return for the second season with the Mavericks, but are still technically considered freshman with the COVID-season exception.
Named RMAC Freshman of the Year and Honorable Mention team member, Speller stepped into the starting line up last season and contributed 8.7 ppg, 2.9 rpg, and was second on the team in assists (58) and steals (29). He tallied double-figures in six games, with a career-high 29 points against CSU Pueblo.
Johnson came off the bench and provided an offensive spark, playing in all 23-games, collecting double-figures in 10 of those outings. In a 100-98 come from behind win at Adams State, he put in a season high 20-points, going 6-for-9 from the field, with a trio of three pointers and five free throws.
Baskin used his 6'8 frame to his advantage, averaging 4.8 points, and 3.3 rebounds. Behind
Ethan Menzies, he was second in blocks with 22 on the season. His 13-points in the regional semifinal was second on the team, going 6-for-10 from the floor.
Threatt was an unexpected threat for the Mavs, coming out of the woodworks and producing the fourth best scoring average on the team at 8.9 ppg. His 24-points against South Dakota Mines, led the scoring efforts, going 10-for-17, and 3-of-5 from beyond the arc.
Return of the Mac
Another seasoned veteran in the Mavericks lineup is Steamboat Springs product,
Mac Riniker. Riniker did a little bit of everything, averaging 7.1 points and defensively sat second with 4.4 rebounds, and lead the team in steals with 31.
He had three straight games in double-figures and came up with team leading 14-points in the RMAC Quarterfinal against Adams State. Earlier in the season he was a point shy of a double-double with nine points, and a season high 14 boards against CSU Pueblo.
New Faces
Head coach
Mike DeGeorge returned four out of the five starters from last season, and added three freshman and three transfers during the off season.
Owen Koonce and
Isaac Jessup transferred in after a stint at CU Boulder.
Christian Speller, will team up with twin brother
Christopher Speller in the coming seasons – jumping from RMAC foe MSU Denver.
Ty Allred,
Eddie Kurjak and
Eric Pollert will make their Maverick debuts, Pollert another Steamboat Springs addition. Kurjak comes out of well-known program Longmont High School, and joins Mona, Utah addition and Juab High School State Champion Allred.
Scouting the Opponents
No. 3 West Texas A&M
The Buffs of West Texas A&M are coming off a successful 2021 season that took them all the way to the National Championship match. They finished 19-3 in the COVID shortened season, 10-2 against Lone Star Conference opponents.
Offensively they scored over 100-points on six occasions, one of which helped them claim the conference championship over St. Edwards, and the other in 101-92 win over Lubbock Christian in the South-Central Region championship.
All three of the Buffs leading scorers from a season ago entered the transfer portal, and moved on to different programs. They did however pick up Texas State transfer, Addison Wallace, Northwestern State transfer, Dalin Williams and Trinity Valley CC transfer, Trevon Fuller.
(RV) Daemon College
The Mavericks second opponent of the weekend are the Wildcats out of Daemon College. Picked to finish second in the East Coast Conference, they edged out ECC preseason favorite St. Thomas Aquinas in the East Regional to move on to the Elite Eight for the first time in the program's NCAA era.
They return 11 from that squad, including four-time ECC Preseason Player of the Year, Andrew Sischo. The fifth-year averaged 26.9 points and 13.0 rebounds last season and led Division II with 13 double-doubles.
They finished 10-6, and 7-2 in conference.
(RV) MSU Moorhead
Rounding out the first weekend will be the Dragons of MSU Moorhead. The team returns all five of their starters and also qualified for the NCAA Tournament, advancing to the second round before falling to Northern State.
Lorenzo McGhee led the team averaging 13.4 points and 5.3 rebounds, scoring 10-plus points in 9-of-12 games. He was voted NSIC North Division Newcomer of the Year and earned All-NSIC North First Team honors.
