GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. — Before the season, no one was quite sure what the identity of this Colorado Mesa men's basketball team would be.
As the new-look Mavericks learned about themselves and one another, they started developing an identity of a tough-minded defensive squad that rebounds like there's no tomorrow.
Saturday, the Mavericks earned another identity: RMAC Tournament team.
The Mavs gutted out a 64-57 victory over Black Hills State, their fourth straight win, and clinching one of eight spots in next month's RMAC Tournament. The final two games of the season will determine if the Mavs will be at home as one of the top four seeds, or on the road for the first round.
" I think our season kind of turned around when we were in Denver and we lost a tough game to Regis, and we played Mines tough and we lost, and we had a quick turnaround to San Antonio," assistant coach Skyler Burgess said. "And since then, I think we're 13-3 in the last 16. I think just this whole year, we've just been improving week to week, and we've had huge jumps. I think the guys have done an incredible job just getting better every day, every practice, each week. And that's kind of been the emphasis of what we've been doing."
It took plenty of defense to hold off the Yellow Jackets, especially defending the perimeter — Black Hills took 34 of its 60 field goal attempts behind the 3-point line, but made only 10 (29.4 percent). The Yellow Jackets did not make a field goal in the final 8:07, missed their final 11 shots 14 of their final 15 attempts.
A lot of that was because of the Mavs' active hands on defense and the inside presence of Yaak Yaak, who had two of CMU's program-tying record 10 blocked shots.
"Since day one, it's been an emphasis, and it's been an emphasis every day," Burgess said of being active on defense. "And I think our guys have had a light bulb moment, and it's been a big emphasis, whether (we're playing) or man or zone."
Harvey White, Ty Allred and Will Mortimore swatted two shots each, with Mason Honeyman and Jaylen Pitman getting one apiece.
Allred recorded a double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds and also had two assists and two steals.
"Coach Sean (Evans) has really made an emphasis of when my offensive game isn't going great, to really get myself going on the glass, and me and Sean really made that emphasis, on especially on the defensive end," Allred said of his inside game.
He had a crowd-pleasing one-handed throwdown dunk in the second half, mean-mugging his teammates, and his second-chance 3-pointer with 3:47 to play broke a 55-55 tie.
Colorado Mesa (17-9, 11-7 RMAC) led most of the way, but its biggest lead was seven points with 15 seconds remaining. The game was tied a dozen times.
Yaak and Honeyman led CMU with 13 points each and Christopher Speller added 11 in another balanced offensive attack.
Honeyman, whose driving floating jump shot has been his go-to lately, hit the shot of the night, a half-court buzzer-beater to end the first half and send the Mavs to the locker room with a 33-28 lead.
"It's just been good to have been working with the coaches on my shot," Honeyman said. "And I feel the confidence of my teammates, they fill me with confidence to get those types of shots up and then, you know, sometimes you just huck one up at the end and it goes in."
Black Hills (15-11, 11-7) took a one-point lead with 8:07 remaining on a 3-pointer, but Yaak answered with a short jumper in the paint, Speller came up with a steal and layup and Allred hit his key 3.
CMU shot 47.4 percent from the field and held the Yellow Jackets to 31.7 percent shooting. Mortimore had seven rebounds to help the Mavs control the boards 39-34, and CMU doubled the points in the paint on the 'Jackets, 32-16.
Knowing the work they put in is paying off with a postseason berth has the Mavericks gaining confidence daily.
"I think we all knew from the startup we've got a special group, how well we bond off the court, how well we played together with each other on the court," Honeyman said. "It was just gonna take time, you know, a really new team, and it's good to see that finally click, and we're now starting to get rolling."
