DURANGO, Colo. — Coaching staffs and rosters can change, but the Colorado Mesa-Fort Lewis men's basketball rivalry carries on.
Thursday night, the Mavericks (14-9, 8-7 RMAC) overcame a season-high 29 turnovers by out-rebounding the Skyhawks 59-23 to pull away for a 93-83 victory in Durango. The 59 rebounds are a season high.
Both teams have new coaching staffs this season and revamped rosters, with the majority of the Mavericks getting their first taste of the Western Slope rivalry.
Early on, the game was played at a break-neck pace, which led to a flurry of CMU turnovers — 14 in the first half — but still, the Mavericks' ability to get on the boards limited chances for Fort Lewis (15-9, 9-6 RMAC).
Colorado Mesa scored 23 second-chance points after snagging 19 offensive rebounds.
A second-chance tip-in by Ty Allred with one minute left in the first half put CMU up 41-39. He followed that with a driving layup after Fort Lewis made one of two free throws, a recurring theme for the Skyhawks that cost them dearly.
The Mavs were up 45-41 with less than 30 seconds remaining in the first half, but after a turnover at midcourt, Biko Johnson tossed in a half-court 3-pointer at the halftime horn to cut CMU's lead to one at the break.
Fort Lewis built a six-point lead early in the second half before the Mavs got a big 3-pointer by Emilek Jallow, and Yaak Yaak's tenacity on the boards — and his wingspan — pushed the lead to five.
Mason Honeyman missed a short jumper after a steal by Yaak, who tried to tip in the miss. It came back to him again for another tip-in and a 62-57 lead with just less than 10 minutes to play.
Fort Lewis went to the free throw line 41 times, but converted only 22, one less than CMU had in 28 attempts. The Mavs' defense held Fort Lewis to 34 percent shooting, and all but eight of the Skyhawks' 23 field goals came from beyond the 3-point line (15 of 38).
Conversely, CMU shot 56 percent from the field, with only six 3s, but scored 42 points in the paint and got 28 points off the bench.
Allred, who led the Mavericks with 19 points and nine rebounds, buried a 3-pointer to push the lead to 10 with 7:10 remaining, but Fort Lewis whittled that to three less than a minute later.
Yet another second-chance bucket, this one by Honeyman, was followed by a 15-foot jumper by Yaak, who had his second career double-double with 15 points and 11 rebounds. His first double-double came last week against MSU Denver.
Two free throws by Will Mortimore, who played much of the second half with four fouls, a layup by Allred followed by his third 3-pointer of the night, gave CMU a 79-71 lead with 3:11 remaining.
Mortimore had his sixth career double-double, with 14 points and 11 rebounds. Christopher Speller added 15 points and eight boards and Harvey White also reached double figures with 13 points.
The Mavericks, who travel to New Mexico Highlands for a 3 p.m. game on Saturday, are tied with Chadron State for the 7-8 spots in the RMAC standings, two games ahead of Colorado Christian for a playoff spot with five games remaining.
