GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. – The Colorado Mesa University men's basketball team will play their final two non-conference games of the season this weekend as they travel to Las Vegas, Nevada to take part in the Great Western Shootout, hosted by Western Washington University.
The Mavericks will take on host Western Washington and Simon Fraser in their stay with both opponent's hailing from the Great Northwest American Conference. Both games will be the last time Colorado Mesa takes on a nonconference opponent as well as they playout the rest of their conference schedule this spring.
There will be no video streaming available for either of this weekend's games but live stats can be found through https://cmumavericks.com/sports/mens-basketball/schedule
Games will take place at the Coyote Event Center on the campus of the College of Southern Nevada with Friday's game set for 5:30 p.m. and Saturday's being at 7:45 p.m.
Game recaps will be posted daily.
LAST WEEK'S GAMES
The Mavericks claimed their fourth win in their last five games this past week as they won their lone contest of the week taking down Colorado School of Mines 81-73 at Brownson Arena.
Ben Henderson scored a career-high 20 points in the game as the Mavs are now 3-0 at home and have won their last two conference games.
The Mavs had a 17-0 run late in the first half and recorded another 14-0 run in the second to build a 61-41 lead with ten minutes left.
Mason Honeyman added 17 points off the bench and made all ten of his free throw attempts while the Mavs were 88.9 percent (16-18) from the line as a team.
Ty Allred scored 12 points and led the Mavs with eight rebounds. Jaylen Pittman also came off the bench to score 10 points for the Mavs.
The Mavs set season-highs for steals (9) and blocked shots (7) and held the Orediggers to 35.1 percent (20-57) shooting.
LOOKING AT THE NUMBERS
The Mavs are currently 5-4 this season while owning a record of 2-1 against RMAC competition. They have faced schools from three different conferences with eight of their nine games being played against in-region opponents.
Colorado Mesa sits in sixth place in the early conference standings while being one of nine schools to own five or more wins.
As an offense, the Mavs are averaging 73.6 points per game this season while holding opponents to 73.1. Their defense ranks in the top five of the conference with that mark while just five teams in the RMAC are holding opponents to under 75 points.
From the field the Mavs are shooting 44.4 percent with a 33.5 percent mark from three-point range and 79.9 percent from the free throw line. They currently lead the conference in free throw percentage.
In the rebounding category, CMU is grabbing 38 boards per game and holding opponents to 32.1 with both marks ranked for fifth best in the conference for a second straight week.
Ty Allred serves as the team's top scoring leader averaging 17.1 points per game while nearly averaging a double-double this season as he is grabbing 9.3 rebounds per game as well. So far this season Allred has collected four double doubles with him grabbing as many as 17 rebounds against Western New Mexico on Nov. 22.
Cohenj Gonzales and Mason Honeyman both round out the offense as the other double digit scoring leaders with Gonzales sitting at 13.6 points per game and Honeyman averaging 10.3.
Joining Allred as the other rebounding leaders are Wes Ball and Clayton Jewell with each grabbing just over five boards per game.
Jewell also adds 1.1 blocks per game to rank in the top-10 of the RMAC leaders.
COACH'S CORNER
Head Coach Mike Dunlap enters his second season leading the Mavs this year after going 19-10 in his debut season in 2024-25.
In his first year with the program, Dunlap had three players named to All-RMAC including returner Ty Allred, who was named to the First Team.
Despite being new to CMU, Dunlap is no stranger to the RMAC as he is currently a member of the conference's hall of fame with him having coached at MSU Denver for nine years and collecting two national championships.
He is a two-time NABC Division II National Coach of the Year.
2025-26 marks Dunlap's 45th season in the coaching ranks with him coaching all the way from Division III to serving as an NBA Head Coach of the Charlotte Bobcats (now known as the Hornets).
Dunlap is joined by assistants, Skyler Burgess and Eli Scott, with this being Burgess's second season as a part of the staff and as the head assistant. Scott enters his first season with the team and was hired prior to the start of the year. He reunites with Dunlap after having previously played for him at Loyola Marymount University.
IN THE POLLS
The Mavs were picked to finish third in this year's RMAC Preseason Poll with them being voted as a top-3 conference team after finishing third in 2024-25.
They earned one first place vote in the voting with them garnishing a total of 158 points. Black Hills State University was picked to win the conference with 183 points while Colorado School of Mines was tabbed second with just nine more points than the Mavs at 167.
The Mavs move up two spots from the previous year's Preseason Poll where they were picked to finish fifth.
In addition to being selected third in the conference, the Mavs also began the year receiving votes in the National American Basketball Coaches Association Preseason Poll.
CMU has faced off with two team's ranked in the NABC poll as well, taking down #3 Dallas Baptist University and falling to #25 Lubbock Christian.
ABOUT WESTERN WASHINGTON
Serving as the hosts of this year's Las Vegas-based tournament, the Vikings are 5-6 this season while going 1-1 in their two games played against GNAC opponents.
Friday's matchup will be just the second time in school history that both schools have faced off with each other and the first time they meet since 2000 when Western Washington claimed a 91-81 victory.
In their previous two games they were able to claim wins over both Central Washington and Langara with each of them being at their home court.
The only common opponent they have with the Mavs this year is UCCS with the Mountain Lions defeating the Vikings in that matchup.
As an offense they are averaging 85.5 points per game while giving up 83.2 in return.
Aidan Rice leads the team with 19.5 points per game while being joined by Nehemiah Pollard (17.4 ppg) and Malachi Miller (12.7 ppg) as the other top scoring options.
Despite their high-scoring offensive numbers they are prone to large turnover amounts with them owning 42 more than opponents and averaging nearly 16 a game.
Following the Vikings matchup with Colorado Mesa they will take on No. 10 Missouri S&T on Saturday.
ABOUT SIMON FRASER
Coming in at 4-6 overall while also faring a 1-1 start to GNAC play, the Red Leafs will have their first action since Dec. 6 this weekend with them going 1-1 in their last two games played.
In those contests they were able to defeat Central Washington before falling to Northwest Nazarene in their only two games of conference play so far.
The Red Leafs have two common opponents to the Mavs as well with them also taking on St. Edward's and UCCS this season. They fell to St. Edward's but were able to narrowly defeat UCCS.
In addition, Simon Fraser has also faced off with Westminster from the RMAC with them defeating the Griffins, 79-70.
The Red Leafs are averaging 73.8 points per game this season with opponents faring a better mark as their defense is giving up 74.5 points per game. In spite of that number, Simon Fraser still holds a better shooting percentage in all three major shooting categories.
Mikyle Malabuyoc is scoring 14.3 points per game to rank first on his team while the two others of Tate Christiansen (10.6 ppg) and Zach Stone (10.1 ppg) round out the offense.
From three-point range the Red Leafs are shooting 40.5 percent to rank third in their conference while making over 100 three-pointers as a team already.
Similarly to the Vikings, Simon Fraser averages over 15 turnovers a game as well while owning nearly 50 more than opponents.
Prior to Saturday's matchup with the Mavs, the Red Leafs will also take on No. 10 Missouri S&T on Friday for their first game of the tournament.
RMAC NETWORK NEWS
The RMAC Network has moved to a pay-per-view model for the 2025-26 season. This season, all RMAC athletic events broadcast by its 15 full-member institutions and associate members will only be available for purchase via a single-game pass or a monthly or annual subscription. Revenue generated by the network will be redistributed to the league's membership to enhance their programs.
RMAC fans can purchase monthly and annual subscriptions that will provide them with access to all regular-season, championship, and archived broadcasts on the RMAC Network. A monthly subscription costs $25, and an annual subscription costs $130. Single-game passes are available for $10, which grants access to a single game for 24 hours.
Additionally, a discounted annual subscription price will be available to students, faculty, and staff of each member institution throughout the year. Purchasing options and pricing for individual RMAC Championships will be announced closer to each event.
COLORADO MESA TURNS 100
The CMU Century Celebration stands as the cornerstone of Colorado Mesa University's year-long centennial celebration. This ambitious initiative unites our community in honoring a rich heritage while boldly envisioning the next hundred years of academic excellence.
Led by the Steering Committee and six specialized sub-committees, we're orchestrating a transformative experience that will resonate through generations. Each committee brings unique expertise to create an unforgettable commemoration of our past, present and future.
To learn more about Colorado Mesa's 100-year celebration, visit cmucentury.com
UP NEXT
The Mavs will get a couple weeks off from game action following this weekend as they return to the court next on January 3 when they host Regis University for their continuation of RMAC action. Game time is set for 3 P.M. that day with tickets available for purchase at cmumavericks.com/tickets.
