GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. – Colorado Mesa men's basketball took care of business in the quarterfinal of the RMAC Tournament, as the top-seeded Mavericks defeated No. 8 seed Chadron State, 84-74.

The Mavericks will now host the remainder of the RMAC Tournament this Friday and Saturday, with No. 4 seed Black Hills State advancing to play CMU on Friday at 5 p.m. before No. 2 seed Fort Lewis plays No. 3 Colorado School of Mines in the nightcap at 7:30 p.m. The winners of the two semifinals will play in the championship game at 6:00 p.m. on Saturday.

With the win, Colorado Mesa improved its record to 26-3 and tied the single-season program record for wins, matching the 2021-22 team that went 26-10 while advancing to the NCAA Tournament Sweet 16. The Mavericks also advanced out of the quarterfinal round of the RMAC Tournament for the fifth consecutive season.

Trevor Baskin and Owen Koonce had 22 points apiece to lead the Mavericks offensively, with Baskin grabbing 10 rebounds for his seventh double-double of the season along with five assists, four steals and a block. Christopher Speller finished with 14 points, six rebounds and four assists while Elijah Knudsen grabbed a career-high seven rebounds.

The Mavericks shot 57 percent from the field (33-58) and 40 percent from three (10-25), while the Eagles shot 44 percent from the field (29-66) and 17 percent from three (2-12). Colorado Mesa outrebounded the visitors 40-29 and outscored them 27-12 on the fast break. The two teams tied with 42 points in the paint apiece.

Playing for its season, Chadron State came out with a purpose and grabbed an early 9-2 advantage over CMU. Chadron continued to put the pressure on, as a Bryce Latimer steal led to a Josh Robinson bucket that gave Chadron a 10-point lead 10 minutes into the game at 19-9.

Like they have so many times this season, the Mavs had a counterpunch. CMU rattled off a 12-0 run from 7:59 left in the first half until 3:01 in the first half, turning a 23-14 deficit into a 26-23 lead. Baskin got the run started with a turnaround hook shot before back-to-back buckets from Koonce and a three-pointer from Sam Goulet tied the score.

After an Elijah Knudsen missed three, Christopher Speller crashed the offensive glass and converted the putback to give CMU its first lead of the game since 2-0 at 25-23 before Baskin pickpocketed a Chadron player and was fouled on the ensuing fast break, leading to a media timeout. The Mavericks led 37-32 at halftime, with 10 points from Baskin and eight apiece from Koonce and Speller at the break.

Another CMU scoring run defined the second half. The Mavs maintained a lead of around 8-10 points for much of the second half, but a three-point play from Josh Robinson cut the Maverick lead to just four, at 63-59 with 7:31 left to play. Robinson, who finished with an excellent 30 points and 10 rebounds in the loss, got his own rebound and scored a second chance bucket to make it 68-63 Mavs with 5:45 to go.

Over the next 90 seconds, however, the Mavs caught fire. After layups from Isaac Jessup and Baskin, the Mavs got out in transition and saw Speller dish to Baskin for a fastbreak three-pointer to make it 75-63. After a Chadron miss, the Mavs whipped the ball around before Knudsen delivered a volleyball set of a touch pass to Aidan Kuhl, who drained what was effectively a dagger three over a defender for a 15-point lead to force a Chadron timeout.

The top-seeded Mavericks, who climbed to No. 5 in the latest NABC Coaches Poll released Tuesday, have earned the right for the remainder of the RMAC Tournament to be played in Brownson Arena, where they are 13-1 this season. The Mavs are 2-1 at home and 3-1 overall this season against the three teams remaining in the RMAC Tournament field.