LAS VEGAS – Owen Koonce had a career-high 27 points to lead four Mavs in double figures as Colorado Mesa men's basketball returned to winning ways with a 92-78 victory over Simon Fraser in the High Desert Classic from Desert Oasis High School in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Koonce shot 12-for-15 from the field and 3-for-6 from three during his performance, with Isaac Jessup (13 points), Aidan Kuhl (12 points) and Elijah Knudsen (11 points) also knocking down three triples apiece. The Mavericks made 16 three-pointers as a team, matching the fourth-highest single-game total in program history for the second time in four games.

With the win, the No. 8 Mavericks will head into the holiday break on a high note after previously seeing their eight-game win streak snapped Monday in a top-10 showdown with No. 5 West Texas A&M. The Mavs are 9-2 and will pick back up in January with a perfect 5-0 conference record and only RMAC games left to play in the regular season.

The Mavericks scored 46 points in each half, leading by eight points at halftime and leading by as many as 21 in the second half before settling at the 14-point final margin of victory. The Mavericks only committed nine turnovers as a team, CMU's first time cracking single digits this year and just the second time the Mavs have turned it over less than 14 times.

Thanks to Koonce's career high and breakout performances from hot shooting guards like Kuhl and Knudsen, the Mavericks were able to stay afloat against the Red Leafs despite not getting as much scoring from usual stars Trevor Baskin and Mac Riniker. Baskin played more of a distributing role with five points, nine rebounds and six assists, leading the team in the latter two categories, while Riniker was held to just 12 minutes played due to foul trouble and finished with seven points on 3-for-3 shooting.

Christopher Speller logged 23 minutes for the Mavs, his most in a game since the season-opener vs. DBU, and finished with seven points, nine rebounds, five assists and two blocks. Levi Dombro, Sam Goulet, Eric Pollert, Christian Speller and Austin Thyne all played in the final three minutes of game time, with Christian Speller racking up five points and Pollert grabbing two rebounds with an assist.

After some deserved time off for the holiday season, the Mavericks will return to the court on January 5 and 6 with home games against CSU Pueblo (6-5, 2-3 RMAC) and New Mexico Highlands (6-5, 3-3 RMAC). Colorado Mesa is one of two teams, along with Fort Lewis, that is undefeated in RMAC play at 5-0. The Mavs will host Fort Lewis on January 26 in Brownson Arena to cap a stretch in which five of CMU's next seven games will be at home.