CHADRON, Neb. – Colorado Mesa needed five extra minutes to get it done but held its nerve to defeat a resilient Chadron State 102-95 in overtime, remaining undefeated in the RMAC and moving into first place in the conference standings.

The No. 11-ranked Mavs led for all but five minutes of the game but had to play an extra period when Chadron's Jarrett Taylor drained a buzzer-beating three-pointer to tie the score 85-85 at the end of regulation.

Owen Koonce finished with 22 points while Mac Riniker had a 19-point, 11-rebound double-double to go with three blocks. Koonce and Riniker combined for 13 of CMU's 17 points in the overtime period, as the Mavericks moved to 12-2 overall and 8-0 in the RMAC with the victory. Chadron State falls to 8-6 overall and 5-3 in the RMAC with the loss.

Colorado Mesa had to play the entire overtime period without Trevor Baskin or Isaac Jessup, both of whom had fouled out by the time OT started. While the Mavericks had to battle foul trouble down the stretch of regulation, they did an excellent job getting to the line in overtime, taking 16 free throw attempts in the extra five minutes after attempting 17 free throws in 40 minutes of regulation.

Baskin still recorded 16 points on 6 of 11 shooting before fouling out, while Elijah Knudsen (12 points, 3-for-5 3PT) and Christopher Speller (11 points, five rebounds, five assists) gave Colorado Mesa five scorers in double figures for the game. With the help of the overtime period, CMU scored over 90 points for the fourth straight game and seventh time overall this season and also passed the century mark for the first time in 2023-24.

The Mavericks shot 53 percent from the field (34-64), 39 percent from deep (11-28) and 70 percent from the line (23-33). Colorado Mesa outrebounded Chadron 46-34 and finished with 16 assists and 15 turnovers.

The Mavs stormed out to a 16-4 and led by as many as 16 points in the first half, but Chadron chipped away at the lead and rattled off an 8-3 run in the final minute-and-a-half of the first half to cut Mesa's lead to just three at the break, 45-42. Chadron continued its run out of the locker room, rattling off an additional 11-3 run after halftime to take a 53-48 lead with 17:53 to play. As it turned out, that would be the largest lead for either team in an airtight second half.

Colorado Mesa thought it had done enough to see the game out in regulation after Christopher Speller banked in a turnaround jumper to give the Mavs a three-point lead with seven seconds left, but the Eagles ran an excellent play to give Taylor an open look from three-point range and the senior guard buried it as time expired.

The pivotal moment of overtime came with 53 seconds left in the extra period. After Elijah Knudsen made the first of two free throw attempts to put CMU up 94-91, the sophomore guard missed his second foul shot, but Koonce crashed the boards and came up with the offensive rebound. Koonce dished to Christopher Speller, then got the ball back in the corner and drained a three-pointer to give the Mavs a six-point lead. Koonce and Riniker accumulated the reminder of the Maverick points from the free-throw line.

The Mavs withstood a number of phenomenal Chadron State performances in this one. Eagles guard Bryce Latimer finished with 30 points, 10 assists and three steals in the loss while forward Josh Robinson finished with a 17-point, 13-rebound double-double. John Jenkins also had 25 points for Chadron State.

Colorado Mesa now holds sole possession of first place in the conference standings after No. 9 Fort Lewis suffered an upset loss on the road to UCCS. The Mavs and Skyhawks face one another in a highly-anticipated showdown in Brownson Arena on January 26.

First, however, the Mavericks complete their road trip tomorrow night with a game against Colorado Christian. The Cougars are 7-7 overall and 3-5 in the RMAC, having defeated Westminster 75-72 earlier Friday. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m.