GUNNISON, Colo. – In the highest basketball gym in the country, Colorado Mesa men's basketball overcame a glacial pace by the host Mountaineers to eventually pull away for a 67-45 win over Western Colorado from over 7,700 feet up in Gunnison.

Mac Riniker and Aidan Kuhl scored 14 points each to lead the No. 13 Mavericks, who improve to 16-3 on the season and 12-1 in the RMAC to rebound after suffering their only conference loss of the year last Friday night against now No. 4 Fort Lewis.

This Colorado Mesa men's basketball team has been no stranger to slow starts over the course of this season, but that doesn't really describe what happened in the first 20 minutes of Tuesday's game. Western Colorado's offense is the antithesis to CMU's favored frenetic, up-tempo style, as the Mountaineers often wind the shot clock down to under 10 seconds or more in their offense before running a set play.

The game was played at WCU's pace rather than CMU's. The Mavericks attempted 52 field goals, their third-lowest single-game total this season, but were efficient with the opportunities they had. CMU shot 45 percent from the field in the first half and 53 percent in the second half, compared to the host Mountaineers shooting 16 percent in the first half and 50 percent in the second half.

In the first half, both teams attempted 24 field goals each despite both sides grabbing eight offensive rebounds apiece. While Mesa made 11 of 24, the Mountaineers shot just 4-for-24 from the field in the first half, although they went 7-for-8 from the line. It all added up to a 26-16 lead for Colorado Mesa at halftime.

Colorado Mesa was able to get out and run more in the second half. The Mavericks raced out to a 20-point lead with back-to-back steals and fast break layups by Christopher Speller and Trevor Baskin made it 43-23 Mavs with 13:43 to play, but the Mavs really took hold of the game with a 13-0 run past the midway point of the second half, when an exclamation point dunk from Baskin made it 61-35.

Behind Riniker (6-11 FG) and Kuhl (4-8 3PTFG) with 14 points, Baskin finished with 13 points and a team-high seven rebounds. Owen Koonce finished with eight points while no less than eight different Mavericks finished with either two or three points on the night. The Mavs outrebounded Western 35-26 and Mesa committed just 11 turnovers, the second-fewest total in a game this season for the team.

Colorado Mesa returns home to face Westminster on Thursday night. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. after the conclusion of the women's game.