SALT LAKE CITY— The Colorado Mesa University men's basketball program claimed its fifth straight win of the season and its fifth straight over the Westminster University since 2023, holding on for an 84-79 road triumph on Thursday night here in the Griffins' Behnken Field House.
 
The Mavericks matched a season-high by canning ten 3-pointers and took the lead for good with over 11:15 to go in the first half, before holding off a late Griffin charge.
 
Their 5-game winning streak is their longest of the season and now the longest in the RMAC after the Colorado School of Mines, which has clinched the conference regular season title, lost by one at UCCS.
 
The Mavs improved to 18-9 overall and to 12-7 in Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference standings, maintaining a share of fourth place in the conference standings heading into their regular season finale at home against Western Colorado University.
 
The Griffins' were playing for pride after being eliminated from RMAC Tournament contention with a double overtime loss at Western on Tuesday and ended their season with 13-15 overall and 7-13 conference records.
 
Playing in his home state, Ty Allred recorded a 21-point, 11-rebound double-double to help lead the Mavs.  The Mona, Utah product also made five triples on just seven attempts and was 8-for-12 from the field.
 
Meanwhile, fellow big man Will Mortimore led the inside game, scoring a season-high 22 points while grabbing nine rebounds.  He was also 10-for-15 from the free throw line.
 
Christopher Speller also finished with 18 points, making four free throws in the final 20 seconds to help ice the win.
 
Yaak Yaak also finished in double figures with 11 points.
 
The Mavs, who lead the RMAC in rebounding margin, continued to dominate the glass, registering a 33-21 advantage in total rebounds, including a 14-4 margin on the offensive end.
 
They also shot 50.0 percent (10-20) from 3-point land and a respectable 48.1 percent (26-54) from the floor.
 
The Griffins also shot the ball well, hitting at a 58.1 percent clip (25-43).
 
The teams were also whistled for a combined 41 fouls as the teams combined to make 46 free throws on 58 attempts.
 
The Griffins got out to 9-4 and 15-12 leads before the first media timeout.
 
However, the Mavs responded with a 14-4 spurt to take a 26-19 lead.
 
They then built a 36-24 cushion on an Allred triple with 7:06 to go in the first half and led by the same margin with two Mortimore free throws at the 3:58 mark.

The Mavs then took a 43-34 lead at halftime but could not shake the Griffins, who sliced the deficit to five.
 
However, another 7-0 Maverick run, which featured a Speller 3-ponter and Allred bucket put the Mavs up by a dozen (52-40) with just under 15 minutes to go.
 
CMU then led 69-55 with 6 ½ minutes to go and was still up by ten (78-68) on an apparent back-breaking 3-pointer by Mason Honeyman, who tallied seven points, seven assists and four steals throughout the game.
 
The Griffins did not go away and pulled within three at  80-77 before Speller made all four of his free throws to put the game away.  Speller also had four steals.
 
The fifth-year Maverick out of Denver will be recognized before Saturday's home game against Western Colorado, which will begin at 3 p.m.
 
Should the Mavericks win, they would guarantee themselves of a home game in the quarterfinal round of next week's RMAC Tournament.
 
The Mavs are now just a game behind MSU Denver and Regis in the RMAC standings after the Roadrunners lost at CSU Pueblo while the Rangers were stunned at Colorado Christian on Thursday night as both teams fell to 13-6 in conference play.  CMU is tied for fourth with Black Hills State, which won at home against Adams State on Thursday.
 
However, Fort Lewis, which lost at Chadron State, and UCCS, which shocked Mines, are lurking just a game behind the Mavs and Yellow Jackets with 11-8 league records.