GRAND JUNCTION, Colo.— The Colorado Mesa University Mavericks made up 11 points of a 12-point deficit in the game's final 67 seconds, but fell one short, dropping a 74-73 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference men's basketball decision to visiting Regis University here at Brownson Arena on Saturday afternoon.
 
The Rangers, the hottest team in the RMAC, have now won nine straight games while improving to 14-8 overall and to 12-2 in the conference, good for second place in the league standings.  The Mavericks dropped to 13-9 overall and to 7-7 in the conference with their third straight Saturday loss and third straight weekend split.
 
After coming out with an 86-84 double-overtime thriller over MSU Denver on Thursday night, the Mavericks battled to a 33-29 lead at the intermission but came out cold in the second half as the Rangers made two 3-pointers on their opening two possessions to tie the game at 35.
 
The visitors then built a 50-39 lead as the Mavericks managed just one field goal in the first 9 ½ minutes of the half.
 
The Mavericks were able to cut that 11-point deficit to just five with a 7-1 run of their own but could never get within a single possession as the Rangers went on to build a 71-59 lead with 1:27 to go thanks to an 8-2 spurt.
 
Ty Allred, who finished with 20 points to lead the Mavericks, then started the Mavs' furious comeback attempt, drawing a foul and converting two free throws with 1:07 to go.
 
The Mavs then forced a turnover and drew within seven (71-64) with a Christopher Speller free throw before Yaak grabbed an offensive rebound, one of four he had on the day, after Speller's second attempt.
 
Yaak then converted an old-fashion 3-point play before stealing the ensuing inbounds pass.  Yaak then dished the ball off to fellow Australian Mason Honeyman, who canned a 3-pointer from the left side as the Mavericks were suddenly within two points (71-69) with 26.5 seconds to go.
 
The Rangers then went up 72-69 with one free throw by Trey Bryant but fouled Allred at the other end on a 3-point attempt.

Allred was able to convert one of his three free throws with 13 seconds to go as the Mavs once again pulled within two at 72-70.
 
However, the Rangers' Chase Mayo Harmon made both free throws after a deliberate Maverick foul to ice the game, despite a late Moneyman 3-pointer with 1.5 seconds to go that completed the scoring.
 
The Rangers then threw the ball long as time expired on the Mavs.
 
The Mavericks finished the day with three players in double figures as Yaak scored 18 to complete his best weekend in a Maverick uniform with 37.  Honeyman also scored15 while dishing out five assists.

After shooting 50.0 percent (14-28) from the floor in the first half, the Mavs finished the second half at 39.3 percent (11-28) and the game at 44.6 percent (25-56).   They were 35.0 percent (7-20) from 3-point land as Allred made two triples while Honeyman had two in the final minute.
 
Mayo Harmon finished with a game-high 22 points and six rebounds to lead the Rangers while Eddy Egun chipped in 19 points and five assists while hitting on seven of his eight field goal attempts, including all three from beyond the arc.
 
The Rangers shot 66.7 percent (16-24) in the second half and 52.0 percent (26-50) overall.  They made 11 treys and were 44.0 percent from beyond the arc while also finishing 11-for-13 at the free throw line (84.6 percent)
 
CMU was guilty of just eight turnovers throughout the game and finished with a slight 30-28 advantage in rebounding, including an 11-6 cushion on the offensive end.
 
The Rangers committed 11 turnovers but had a 14-10 edge in points off turnovers.
 
The Mavericks had won their last four home games of the season prior to Saturday's setback.
 
Holding on to the eighth and final RMAC Tournament spot by two games with six games to go in the regular season, the Mavericks will be on the road next week playing at Fort Lewis (15-8, 9-5 RMAC) on Thursday in Durango, Colorado before going to Las Vegas, New Mexico to face New Mexico Highlands (9-13, 2-12 RMAC) next Saturday.
 
CMU will then return home for three of their final four regular season contests.