AUSTIN, Texas – Colorado Mesa nearly pulled off an improbable comeback, rallying from 17 points down with eight-and-a-half minutes left to within two points with a minute to play, but Dallas Baptist held on to defeat the Mavericks 89-84 in the 2023-24 men's basketball season opener.

The Mavericks made six field goals in a row in a three-minute span to get within a basket, but missed three of their final four attempts as DBU was able to extend the lead back out to five at the line. Both teams had balanced scoring attacks, with five players from each squad in double figures.

Owen Koonce led the Maverick effort with 19 points, matching his season high from last year and just one point shy of his career high. Mac Riniker cluttered the box score as usual, shooting 75 percent from the field and finishing with 15 points, six rebounds, four steals, three assists and a block. Isaac Jessup (11 pts) and Trevor Baskin (10) were in double figures for the Mavs, along with Christian Speller, whose 10 points were his most in a Maverick uniform and tied a career-high across his college career.

The Mavs shot 47.5 percent from the field, 42.9 percent from three and 70 percent from the foul line. DBU had the shooting edge, hitting 50.8 of their shots from the field and 78 percent of their free throw attempts, although their 36.8 percent three-point percentage was lower than CMU's.

Many other stats were even – DBU narrowly outrebounded the Mavericks 29-28, committing 16 turnovers compared to CMU's 19 and forcing 11 steals while the Mavs had 12. The fact that the game totals ended up nearly identical is a testament to how much catch-up the Mavs were able to play in the second half.

DBU raced out to a lead early, as the Mavericks never had the lead and only ever tied the score at 2-2. The Patriots led by 13 at the 10-minute mark of the game and pushed the lead to 17 when Deng Dut, who led DBU with 18 points, hit a three-pointer with four seconds left in the first half to put the Patriots up 50-33 at the break.

The Mavs came flying out of the locker room with a 16-3 run to begin the second half. CMU's first two buckets were three-pointers from Isaac Jessup and Owen Koonce, and after a personal four-point run from Riniker, DBU's lead was cut to 53-49 with 14:23 to play.

But Dallas Baptist had a counterpunch, immediately answering with a 14-3 run of their own, culminated by back-to-back jumpers from Dut. After Koonce hit a three for CMU with about nine minutes left, DBU got two-pointers from David Bradley and Ricky Lujan sandwiched around a Koonce turnover to bump the lead back up to 17 with 8:33 left.

The Mavericks had one more run in them, ripping off a 20-7 run in about three minutes of game time. After Christian Speller made two free throws with 4:45 left, the Mavs hit their next six field goal attempts – a three from Aidan Kuhl, a three from Christian Speller, a dunk from Riniker, a three from Koonce, a layup from Kuhl and another three from Christian Speller to make it 84-82 with 1:23 left to go.

The teams traded baskets once more, but Baskin missed two three-pointers on CMU's final possessions, allowing the Patriots to ice the game at the stripe.

The loss drops the No. 14 Mavericks to 0-1 on the season. CMU has an opportunity to right the ship tomorrow night, but faces a tough task in St. Edward's, picked to finish third in the Lone Star Conference, on its home floor. Tipoff Saturday is scheduled for 3 p.m. MT.