GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. – The Colorado Mesa University men's basketball team used a 17-4 second half run to erase as much as an 11-point deficit this evening as they rallied back for a key 70-66 RMAC home win over CSU Pueblo at Brownson Arena.
Playing in front a packed Blizzard in Brownson crowd, there were nearly 1,400 fans who attended the game with this being the second year in a row that the Mavs have won this event.
The Mavs improved to 12-3 overall and to 8-3 in the RMAC while the ThunderWolves fell to 13-6 and 7-4 in the loop.
Colorado Mesa has now won ten straight games in the rivalry with both teams coming into the game tied for third in the RMAC standings.
In tonight's game the lead changed hands ten times and featured five ties with a final minute defensive stand solidifying the win.
For almost the entirety of the first half the Thunderwolves were the leading team with them using hot shooting to back their fast start.
The Mavs collected the lead just twice in the half with once coming at 11 minutes into play and the other being their initial 3-0 lead in the opening minute. They went up by just one point at the later mark before the Pack lead the rest of the way into halftime.
Both teams shot at around 50 percent at the half with the difference being nine three pointers on CSUP's end.
The game still remained close though as CSUP lead by just five, for a halftime score of 37-32.
After trading shots back and forth and looking to bring the game closer, the Mavs pressured with a 12-2 run in the second half between the 16th and 12th minutes bringing the game to just a one-point difference at the under 12-minute media timeout mark.
The Mavs would collect the lead soon after at the nine-minute mark with them continuing their run at 17-4 now.
The Thunderwolves only led once more in the newly contested game as they went up by one point with just over a minute to go before Colorado Mesa outscored the Pack 6-1 in the final minute.
Ty Allred scored 17 points and had seven rebounds in the second half alone and finished with 20 points and eight rebounds to lead all players in both categories. He scored the decisive game-leading layup with 41 seconds remaining and converted the and-one to propel the win.
Harvey White also scored 17 points while dishing out seven assists. He was 7-for-10 from the field.
Cohenj Gonzales collected 11 points as the Mavs' final double figure scorer.
The Mavs were guilty of just five turnovers, a season-low and the first time they have been in single digits this season.
They shot 52.9 percent (9-17) from 3-point land and 49 percent total in the game. They would also go 13-for-16 from the free throw line, including making four key ones in the final minute of play.
There were no free throws taken in the first half by either team.
The ThunderWolves were 45.2 percent (14-31) from long distance but were limited in the second half only making five three-pointers.
CSU Pueblo's Bryce Riehl led the ThunderWolves with 15 points, all of which went from 3-point land. He was 5-for-9 from beyond the arc and from the field overall.
He is the younger brother of CMU's Tevin Riehl, who guarded him throughout the night.
Playing the final game of their 5-game homestand, the Mavs will now host UCCS this Saturday at 3 p.m. for Jersey Day. Fans are encouraged to wear jerseys to the game with there being an autographed Nikola Jokic Jersey drawing to also occur. Tickets for the drawing can be purchased online at 2026 Nikola Jokic Jersey Prize Drawing - Campaign with tickets for the game at cmumavericks.com/tickets
