Grand Junction, CO – Third times the charm. Colorado Mesa (24-8) locked it down defensively, while hitting key shots to pick up the win when it counted most over MSU Denver (17-12) Tuesday night in Brownson Arena.
With the victory the Mavericks match a program-record for wins in a season with 24, claiming their seventh consecutive RMAC Tournament win over the past three seasons. They move on to play No. 6 seed Regis in the semifinal round Friday evening in Spearfish, S.D. Black Hills State downed New Mexico Highlands in their respective quarterfinal to maintain hosting right for rest of the tournament.
Of the four players in double-figures,
Blaise Threatt led with 20 points and nine rebounds,
Jared Small adding 19 points.
Georgie Dancer chipped in 14-points, he and Small combining for seven 3-pointers.
Trevor Baskin also finished with 12 points to aid in the offensive output.
Collectively, the Mavs benefited from the Roadrunners 14 turnovers, converting 23 points. The CMU bench also tallied 22 points, just 2 coming from the Roadrunners reserves. With a 9-1 advantage in steals, 6-3 in blocks, the Roadrunners were held to 40.7, Laolu Oke withheld to no more than nine points on the night.
A trio of blocks, followed by a pair of steals from
Mac Riniker opened up a 16-9 lead at the 12:45 mark in the first half. MSU Denver would start to connect on their shots taking over at the 1:47 mark.
CMU would be behind a buzzer beater this time around, Threatt snagging the offensive rebound, putting up a floater that would rattle around and eventually fall to cut the Roadrunners lead to two.
A 7-0 run in the opening minutes of the second half, gave way to an 8-point lead in favor of the Mavs. That would spark baskets by the visitors who would regain the lead for a couple minutes.
Forcing turnovers and working off the glass, Dancer would drain the go-ahead 3-pointer, opening up a 9-0 gain. The remainder of the night would be a series of free throws for Colorado Mesa, leading to the eventual 77-65 score.
Ra'Shawn Langston finished with 21-points, Oke with 12 rebounds.
