GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. – Colorado Mesa earned a signature win, getting 26 points from Blaise Threatt and 18 points from Mac Riniker to beat previously undefeated Black Hills State 80-69 in Spearfish, South Dakota.

The Mavericks extended their winning streak to eight games and improved to 13-3 overall and 8-2 in the RMAC while handing Black Hills State its first loss of the season. The Yellow Jackets, coming off a Final Four run last season that included a win over CMU in last year's Sweet 16, entered the game at 13-0 and ranked No. 3 in the country.

Tonight's win marks the third consecutive season the Mavericks have defeated Black Hills State on their home floor. Black Hills State is 23-3 at home versus all other opponents in that time span.

The Mavs survived a 31-point night from reigning RMAC Player of the Year Joel Scott but held every other Black Hills player to eight points or fewer, as the Yellow Jackets finished well below their season average of 81.8 points per game. Trevor Baskin just missed a double-double with 12 points and nine rebounds while Owen Koonce had 11 points to round out CMU's double-figure scorers.

The first half of the game was a seesaw battle, as the lead changed hands nine times and neither team had a lead of more than six points. Both teams combined to attempt only two free throws in the first half, both knocked down by CMU's Michael McCurry. The Mavericks headed into the locker room at halftime with a 33-30 lead, moving in front when Mac Riniker scored a layup after keeping the CMU possession alive twice with offensive rebounds, two of 11 that the Mavs grabbed over the course of the game.

It seemed like the game would continue to be a nail-biter as neither team was able to score for the first two minutes of the second half, combining to miss the first nine field goal attempts after halftime. But once Owen Koonce broke the spell by hitting a jumper with 17:49 left to play, the Mavs made five field goal attempts in a row to extend their lead to nine points at 43-34.

After Threatt drained a three-pointer off a kickout from Koonce, the Mavericks had their largest lead of the night at 52-38 with just under ten minutes to go. The Mavs were far from out of the woods, however.

Mac Riniker picked up his fourth foul and third in the span of a minute with 8:49 left to play and Trevor Baskin picked up his fourth with 4:22 left. With CMU's two primary post players in foul trouble, the Yellow Jackets fed their All-American forward Joel Scott, who scored 24 of his 31 points in the second half. But Threatt matched Scott nearly bucket-for-bucket at the other end, finishing 12 of 22 from the field. The 26 points were a season-high for Threatt and one point off his career-high of 27.

The Mavericks also consistently grabbed offensive rebounds in key moments, including four in the final six minutes of the game. Between shooting 51 percent from the field and 9 of 13 from the free-throw line, the Mavs did enough to not let Black Hills State get any closer than nine points for the game's final 15 minutes. Riniker made three of CMU's final four field goals of the game, capping a night in which he shot 82 percent from the field (9-11).

The victory is a massive resume booster for CMU, which entered the contest receiving votes in both the NABC Coaches Poll and the D2SIDA Media Poll. At 8-2, the Mavs remain fourth in the RMAC standings behind 9-1 Colorado School of Mines, 8-1 Fort Lewis and 7-1 Black Hills State.

The Mavs' season continues Saturday night at 6 p.m. against South Dakota Mines. The Hardrockers are 5-5 in the RMAC and beat Westminster 71-68 on Friday night.