GRAND JUNCTION, Colo.— The Colorado Mesa University Maverick men's basketball team clamped down defensively and dominated the paint and the glass in a 69-51 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference home win over the South Dakota Mines Hardrockers on Thursday night in Brownson Arena.
 
The Mavericks have now won three straight games and improved to 16-9 overall and to 10-7 in RMAC play, moving into a 3-way tie with Fort Lewis and UCCS for fifth place in the standings after both of those teams lost on Friday night.  The Mavs started the day in seventh place and are now just a game behind fourth place Black Hills State (11-6 RMAC), who will come into Brownson Arena on Saturday afternoon (3 o'clock).
 
In Thursday's win CMU held the Hardrockers to seven points in the final 15 minutes after the visitors erased a 38-27 halftime deficit with a 17-6 run over the first five minutes of the second half.
 
However, the visitors went without a field goal for the final 8:58 and missed their last eight field goal attempts while managing just two free throws in the closing minutes as CMU pulled away for the win.
 
Maverick sophomore Yaak Yaak led the Mavs with 16 points and 12 rebounds, recording his third straight double-double.  Yaak has also had four double-doubles in the last five games, all of which have been CMU wins.
 
Fellow big man and Australian Will Mortimore also finished with 16 points and snagged eight rebounds as the Mavericks dominated points in the paint, 44-6 over the visitors, who did make ten 3-pointers.
 
Mortimore was 7-for-10 from the field and had four offensive rebounds.  Yaak was 6-for-12 from the field and a perfect 4-for-4 from the line while grabbing five offensive rebounds.
 
The Mavs also finished with a +22 rebounding differential, grabbing 41 rebounds, including 12 on the offensive end.  The Hardrockers finished with just 19 boards and two second chance points.
 
The Mavs led 38-27 at the half, before the Hardrockers went on a 17-6 run over the first five minutes of the second half to the game at 44 on a Gavin Soukup triple.
 
However, CMU went on what proved to be a decisive 10-0 run, building a 54-44 lead on a Yaak jumper with 11 ½ minutes to go.
 
The Hardrockers then closed the gap to 54-47 on a Mac Terry 3-pointer with 11:09 left and then to within eight (57-49) with 8:58 to go, answering Ty Allred's triple.
 
The Mavs then went on another 10-0 spurt to build a 19-point advantage (69-50) with 1:48 left before clearing the benches with rarely used substitutes for the waning moments.
 
The Mavs finished the game shooting 52.7 percent (29-55) from the field, including a 64.0 percent (16-25) clip in the opening half.
 
Meanwhile, the Hardrockers, who are 0-12 on the road this season, shot just 31.1 percent (14-45) from the field, including a 6-for-21 effort (28.6 percent) effort in the second half.
 
The Maverick defensive efficiency was their best in all 17 RMAC games this season.