DENVER, Colo. — Trevor Baskin's two free throws with 8.9 seconds remaining Saturday night (Dec. 2) sealed Colorado Mesa's 85-82 victory over MSU Denver at Auraria Event Center.
The Mavericks, ranked No. 18 in the NABC national poll, handed the No. 8 Roadrunners their first loss of the season and won their fourth straight road game against a top-15 team, dating to last season.
CMU has won five in a row after a five-point loss in the season opener against Dallas Baptist.
The game was close from the get-go, with neither team leading by double figures at any time. Mesa's largest lead was nine points early in the second half; MSU Denver led by six late in the first half after going on a 10-point scoring run to turn a 29-25 CMU lead into a 35-29 MSU Denver advantage.
Owen Koonce, who finished with 15 points, stopped that run by stealing the ball and converting on the break as the Mavs worked their way back to a one-point lead, 42-41, at halftime.
The teams were tied at 78-78 with two minutes to play when one offensive sequence highlighted the Mavs' determination.
Reece Johnson missed a 3-pointer, but Baskin was there for the offensive rebound and got the ball out to Isaac Jessup. His second-chance 3-pointer also rimmed off, but Koonce latched onto another offensive board. Baskin finally finished with a layup for an 80-78 lead with 1:52 remaining that the Mavericks never relinquished.
Riniker, whose 20 points led the Mavs, scored on a driving layup out of a timeout with 33 seconds to go, and then he stepped into a passing lane for a steal with 26 seconds remaining.
He was fouled at midcourt, but missed the front end of a one-and-one, giving the Roadrunners a chance. Brayden Maldonado drove for a layup, and Metro fouled Johnson as the Mavericks broke the full-court press. He hit the back end of a two-shot foul to go up three, 83-80, with 17 seconds remaining, but Riniker fouled Caleb McGill contesting a shot inside.
McGill, who had 14 points for the Roadrunners, made both free throws to pull within one, 83-82, but out of timeouts, they had to foul to stop the clock. This time it was Baskin in the backcourt, who made the two decisive freebies.
Maldonado's desperation 3-pointer at the horn hit the front of the rim and the Mavericks completed the challenging road sweep to open conference play after beating Colorado School of Mines on Friday. Maldonado and KJ Garrett had 15 points apiece for the Roadrunners (7-1, 1-1 RMAC).
A year ago, CMU lost to both Colorado School of Mines and MSU Denver to open the RMAC schedule at Brownson Arena before going 12-1 the rest of the way to win the regular-season conference title.
Baskin ran into foul trouble and spent a long stretch on the bench in the second half, but Michael McCurry came in and was outstanding, scoring a season-high 12 points (one off his career high), including a pair of clutch 3-pointers. Jessup also finished in double figures with 11 points, he and Baskin had five assists each and Baskin finished with nine rebounds.
The Mavericks outscored MSU Denver 40-26 in the paint and shot slightly better from the field in the evenly matched game, 52.5% to the Roadrunners' 50.9%.
CMU returns home to play CU-Colorado Springs on Dec. 8 and Regis on Dec. 9 at Brownson Arena. Both games tip off at 7:30 p.m.
