DENVER, Colo. – After a close overtime matchup the last time the teams met, the No. 7 Colorado Mesa men's basketball team painted a different narrative Friday night in the Regis Fieldhouse, grabbing a 73-63 victory over the Rangers.

As a team, the Mavericks held a 52.6 percent shooting advantage while holding the Rangers to 39.7 percent shooting effort. CMU also held a 39-25 edge off the glass, to go along with four blocks from three different players.

Just under halfway through the first half, the Mavericks built up a 20-7 lead in the first half, with big contributions from freshman Reece Johnson. Mesa had the upper hand, leading by as many as 21 and maintained the lead for a majority of the half. As the teams paused for half time, CMU had created a 42-28 lead.

As the second half got underway, Regis started to find a rhythm outscoring Mesa by a 35-31 margin, but the deficit was too much to overcome and the Maverick offense too much to contain.

Four Maverick players, three of which were freshman, tallied double-figures on the night. Reece Johnson led the way with 15 points off the bench, which included four, 3- pointers. He also added four rebounds, an assist and a steal to his stat line.

Joining Johnson, was fellow freshman Christopher Speller with 14 on 6-for-8 shooting, and Mac Riniker with 13, going 5-for-8. Ethan Menzies rounded out the players in double-figures matching Riniker with 13-points. Menzies also pulled down 8-rebounds to lead the team.

Colorado Mesa improves to 15-1 on the season, and set up a Saturday showdown with top-rankers Colorado School of Mines. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m.