GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. – The Colorado Mesa University men's basketball team used a strong first half push to propel themselves to a 17-point victory this evening as they took down the Westminster University Griffins by a score of 77-60 at Brownson Arena.
The Mavericks led for 90 percent of tonight's game with them outscoring the Griffins in both halves and owning a double-digit lead ever since the 14th minute of play.
They stay undefeated at home this season with them now improving to 5-0.
The Mavs have now won four of their last five games with them sitting at 10-6 overall and 6-2 in RMAC play. They continue to stay in third place of the conference standings.
Westminster drops to 6-9 overall and 1-6 in RMAC play with this being their sixth loss in a row.
Before going on to lead by double figures for a large majority of the game the Mavs and Griffins had a back-and-forth battle through the first 10 minutes of play with the score being just 14-10 at the midpoint of the half.
Colorado Mesa caught fire soon after though as they went on a 15-5 run over the next six and half minutes.
Westminster made a pair of threes in the final minute of the half to bring the game slightly closer, but a buzzer-beater make by Wes Ball allowed Colorado Mesa to own the 39-23 advantage at halftime.
Building off their lead, the Mavs closely outscored the Griffins 38-37 in the second half while using an efficient 62.5 percent shooting.
They used a 7-0 run in the sixth minute and a 7-5 finish in the final three minutes solidify the win.
The Griffins brought the game to within 13 points three times in the final 20 minutes but were never able to bring the game any closer as the Mavs responded each time.
Clayton Jewell recorded his third straight double-double in the victory as he matched his season-high with 21 points while adding 10 rebounds to lead CMU.
He had a season-high seven assists as well and led the Mavs in all three categories.
In addition he has now scored in double figures the last seven games.
Harvey White also had a strong night, scoring 18 points on 7-for-10 shooting.
Wes Ball would add 13 points off the bench with Ty Allred tacking on 11 points as the team's top four scorers.
CMU held the Griffins to a 37.1 percent (23-62) effort which was the lowest of any guests to Brownson Arena this season.
The defensive effort, which included nine steals and three blocked shots, was the Mavs' third best overall of the season.
Jewell would own two blocks and two steals himself with Kap Laila adding a block and three steals as well.
The Griffins' season leading scorer, Michael Fraizer, was limited to just three points in the game while only two of their players ended in double figures.
Colorado Mesa will now get a few extra days off this weekend before they return to action next Thursday and Saturday when they host Black Hills State and Chadron State. Tickets can be purchased online at cmumavericks.com/tickets.
