Durango, Colo. - In what proved to be a close contest after the Mavericks led by as much as 16 points in the game, the Colorado Mesa University Men's Basketball Team would pull out another win this weekend as they concluded their stay at the Skyhawks Hardwood Classic with a 76-73 victory over the Western New Mexico University Mustangs.
CMU would hold the lead for nearly 35 minutes of the game before fending off a late second-half comeback by the Mustangs who climbed all the way back from trailing by 16 points to lead by one point with two minutes left. A pair of clutch shots by Freshman Mason Honeyman and four converted free throws would ultimately end the Mustangs' hope as the Mavs secured their second-straight win.
The Mavs now improve to 2-2 on the season after starting their year 0-2. Their win today serves as their first victory over a Lone Star Conference opponent after suffering both of their losses to St. Edward's University and Dallas Baptist University, who both also are members of the Lone Star.
Western New Mexico remains winless following today as they are now 0-4 to start their year.
Three different players for the Mavs would record career days as the trio of Ty Allred, Mason Honeyman and Yaak Yaak would all record double digit scoring. Allred would lead the team with 17 points himself, with Honeyman adding 16 and Yaak scoring 13. These would all be career-high points for each of the players.
Yaak would also record eight rebounds for a new season high. Harvey White would record four of the team's 11 assists for him to serve as the assist leader.
Today's game would be the Mavs best shooting performance of the season as they shot 53.7% from the field while going 29-54. They would only shoot 31.6% from the three-point line but be led by Austin Thyne who was 3-3 from beyond the arc.
The Mavs' bench would prove to be a strong point for the team as they scored 30 of the team's 76 points in the game to outscore the Mustangs bench who only scored 14.
In the first half, after an early battle back and forth for the lead, the Mavs would take their first meaningful lead of the game six minutes in. For the next 14 minutes they would hold that lead with it growing as large as 10 and ultimately being shaved down to three, as the Mavs would enter the half up 33-30.
The Mustangs would continue to challenge that lead into the second half with them bringing the game within two before CMU would go on a 16-2 run to give themselves some breathing room. Despite the Mavs' large lead Western New Mexico wouldn't break as they retaliated with them outscoring the Mavs 23-7 over the next six minutes to give them their first lead of the game since roughly three and a half minutes into the first half.
With less than three minutes in the game to play both teams would trade the lead by one point over the next two minutes before Honeyman would convert on two jumpers to give the team their final lead and allow for Allred and White to both hit two free throws apiece and put the Mustangs away.
Western New Mexico would also have three players score in the double digits in tonight's game with their leading scorer being Carson Kelly who dropped 22 points and made three three-pointers. Isaiah Marin would add 19 points, and Nathan Jones would add 12 to help lead their team.
Following this weekend's action in Durango the Mavs will return to the court next weekend when they host their first two home games of the season at Brownson Arena for more non-conference action. The Mavs will look to take on Bowie State University on Friday the 22nd and Emporia State University on Saturday the 23rd. Tickets can be purchased in person or online at cmumavericks.com/tickets.
