GRAND JUNCTION, Colo.— The No. 6 seed Fort Lewis College Skyhawks pulled a mild seeding upset, claiming an 89-65 win over the third-seeded Colorado Mesa University Mavericks in the quarterfinal round of the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Men's Basketball Tournament on Tuesday night here in Brownson Arena.
 
The Skyhawks made 13 3-pointers and used big first and second-half runs in what was their seventh straight conference tournament victory over the last three years.  Five of those wins have come in Brownson Arena, as CMU hosted the semifinal and championship rounds in 2023 and 2024, years the Skyhawks were able to win the titles.
 
FLC improved to 19-11 with the win and will move on to the semifinals where they will face second-seeded Regis on Friday night at the Colorado School of Mines in Golden.
 
The Mavericks dropped to 19-10 and have likely seen their season come to an end.  They had won six straight and 15 of their last 18 games prior to Tuesday, coming into the tournament as the hottest team in the RMAC.
 
CMU had started conference play with an 0-4 record but steadily climbed the conference standings in the 2025 portion of the campaign, moving into the No. 3 seed after finishing with a 13-7 conference record.
 
The Skyhawks had gone 12-8 in the conference season.
 
Neither team in Tuesday's game was ranked in last week's NCAA Division II South Central Regional Rankings, although new rankings are due out on Wednesday, which will factor in the Mavs' last two wins.  Results of Tuesdays' games will not be included in those rankings but will be included in the final NCAA Tournament selection process.
 
The field of 64, including eight teams from the South Central Region, will be announced on Sunday night at 9 p.m. MST on NCAA.com.
 
In Tuesday's victory, the Skyhawks used a 14-0 run in the first half to break an 18-18 deadlock and take a 32-18 lead.
 
The Mavericks were able to whittle the deficit down to ten (42-32) at the half and cut it down to just four (42-38) in the first 1:29 of the second half thanks to a 6-0 spurt of their own.
 
The Mavs also trailed by just four (44-40) with 14:32 left before the Skyhawks made 3-pointers on their next four possessions to quickly build the lead back to 16 (64-48) en route to the victory.
 
The Skyhawks shot 50.8 percent (30-59) from the field and were 13-for-28 (46.4 percent) from 3-point territory.
 
CMU finished the night shooting 30.0 percent (15-50) from the field and were 5-for-14 (35.7 percent) from beyond the arc.
 
The Mavs did finish the night with a 41-33 rebounding advantage, including a 15-8 mark offensively.  They have out-rebounded their opponents in each of their last nine games.
 
Ty Allred led the Mavs in scoring with 17 points.  Mason Honeyman also chipped in 13 while Christopher Speller recorded nine points and seven rebounds in what was his final game in Brownson Arena and likely the last in his 142-game career over five seasons.  He scored 987 points in that time.
 
Skyhawk guard Stewart Erhart led all players with 23 points.  He was 9-for-12 from the field and hit four of five 3-pointers.  He also added four assists and six steals.