COLORADO SPRINGS — Colorado Mesa couldn't buy a bucket in the first half Saturday and CU-Colorado Springs couldn't seem to miss.
The Mountain Lions raced to a 24-6 lead midway through the first half, and although the Mavericks rallied, that hole was too deep to climb out of in a 71-57 loss at Gallogly Events Center.
CMU coach Mike Dunlap used a myriad of lineup combinations trying to find the right matchup and spark, but the Mavericks ended up with the weekend road split, falling to 12-8, 6-6 in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference.
Freshman guard Tevin Riehl provided some of that spark, playing in his first game since just before the holiday break. Back home in Colorado Springs, the Mesa Ridge High School product scored a career-high nine points, hitting three 3-pointers. Harvey White also had nine points, which tied Riehl for the team high.
Big man Ben Kaye also got extended playing time, logging nearly 12 minutes, with four points and three rebounds. The 7-foot freshman also hadn't seen playing time since December, but provided the Mavs more depth inside against the Mountain Lions' front line, led by 6-foot-9 Evansville transfer William Becker, who had 15 points. All five UCCS starters reached double figures, with Xavier Martinez leading the way with 17.
The Mavericks shot only 21 percent from the field in the opening 10 minutes, with the Mountain Lions hitting at a 66 percent clip to build that insurmountable lead. The Mavs trailed 38-21 at halftime, but outscored UCCS 36-33 in the second half.
Down 20 points with 14:36 to play in the game, the Mavs chipped away, running better offense and challenging shots on the other end.
A 3-pointer by White cut it to 13 points with just more than nine minutes remaining and Emilek Jallow followed with a dunk after a steal by Riehl to cut it to 57-46.
After a UCCS free throw, White drew a foul and made two free throws, and the Mavericks had cut the 20-point deficit in half, 58-48, but couldn't get any closer.
Dunlap went through his entire bench, playing 13 players for at least seven minutes, and all 13 scored. The defense against CMU's leading scorer, Ty Allred, limited him to only five points. Christopher Speller and Harley Kent scored five apiece and Will Mortimore, Jaylen Pitman, Mason Honeyman and Kaye each added four. The Mavericks' bench contributed 37 points — all but seven of the Mountain Lions' points came from the starters.
CU-Colorado Springs (13-7, 7-5 RMAC) won the rebound battle 34-29 and finished the game shooting 49 percent from the field to CMU's 38.6 percent. After 15 straight games shooting well over 40 percent from the field, the Mavs found out how tough it is sometimes to shoot on the road, with back-to-back games shooting below 40 percent.
UCCS hit twice as many 3-pointers, 8-4.
The loss, only the third in the past 11 games, dropped CMU into a tie for seventh place in the RMAC with Chadron State with eight games remaining. It was CMU's second loss of the season to the Mountain Lions, who moved into fifth place in the standings.
The Mavericks return to Brownson Arena next week, hosting nationally ranked MSU Denver at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday and Regis on Saturday afternoon. Thursday night's game is Retail Appreciation Night.
