LAS VEGAS— Colorado Mesa University's Trevor Baskin had a monster 29-point, 10-rebound double-double to lead all players but did not have enough support as the nation's fifth-ranked West Texas A&M University Buffs held the eighth-ranked Mavericks to a season-low 33.8 percent (22-65) shooting effort in a key 81-66 NCAA Division II South Central Regional victory as part of the High Desert Classic, which got underway Monday here at Desert Oasis High School.

The Buffs improved to 9-1 with their sixth straight win while the Mavs saw their 8-game winning streak snapped while dipping to 8-2.
 
Coming off a season-high 99 points in a Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference win over Adams State on Friday, the Mavs were held to just four 3-pointers on 35 attempts (11.4 percent) while the Buffs forced them into 18 turnovers, which led to 27 points.  Meanwhile, WTAMU shot 41.9 percent (26-62) from the field and made eight 3-pointers and 21 free throws in a balanced offensive attack.
 
Larry Wise led the Buffs with 18 points on 6-for-20 shooting.  He also grabbed seven rebounds.  Zach Toussaint also added 15 points, including nine from beyond the arc while Ahamed Mohammed and Kieran Elliott pitched in ten apiece.  Mohammed also had six assists while Elliott snagged eight rebounds.
 
Owen Koonce scored a dozen in the Mavs' effort while Reece Johnson had ten.
 
The Buffs neve trailed and got off to a hot start building a 16-6 lead over the first 8 ½ minutes of the game before exploding for a 12-0 run to take a 28-8 lead with 9:22 left in the first half.
 
The Mavs would cut the deficit to eight (34-26) with an 11-2 run of their own but trailed by 11 (45-34) at the intermission.
 
The Buffs then gradually built the lead back to 20 points over the first twelve minutes of the second half while cruising to the win.
 
Baskin had 14 points at the half and 15 more in the second while the rest of the Mavs contributed 35 throughout the afternoon.

Baskin, who now has four 20-plus point efforts this season, and Mac Riniker were both playing in their 100^th career games.
 
CMU will try to rebound on Tuesday at 11 a.m. PST (Noon Mountain) when they take on Simon Fraser in what will be their final pre-holiday match-up of the campaign.