GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. – Clayton Jewell's double-double and a pair of career-highs fueled the Colorado Mesa men's basketball team's 85-80 win over New Mexico Highlands on Saturday (Feb. 14) afternoon in Brownson Arena.
 
Colorado Mesa's (17-7, 13-3 RMAC) Clayton Jewell finished the game with 22 points and 12 rebounds to lead the Maverick scoring. He was 7-for-13 from the field and a perfect 6-for-6 from the stripe while blocking four shots on the defensive end of the floor.
 
New Mexico Highlands (11-16, 9-7 RMAC) led nearly the entire first-half and by as many as 11 points with 10:07 left in the first half. By the 3:10 mark of the half, the Mavericks had tied it at 30-30 after Jaylen Pittman buried a three-pointer that came off a Cowboy turnover.
 
The Mavericks led 43-38 at the break.
 
Colorado Mesa led the entire second half despite New Mexico Highlands cutting the lead to one on several occasions. The first in the final five minutes came with 2:45 to go and had it down to one with 1:15 to play at 81-80.
 
Jewell had a second chance put back with a minute to play to go up 83-80 while Ty Allred iced the game with a pair of free throws with six seconds left.
 
The Mavericks shot 48.2 percent from the field and 43.5 percent from beyond the arc.
 
Harvey White scored 18 points on 6-for-9 shooting from the field while Wes Ball and Jaylen Pitman each had career-highs off the bench with 16 points apiece.
 
Highlands was led by the 24 points of Marcus Pierce and also received 19 points from Ibrahima Sacko.
 
Colorado Mesa has won seven straight now and completed the season sweep of New Mexico Highlands. They still have a share of the RMAC lead with Black Hills State as Fort Lewis dropped a road game today in Gunnison against Western Colorado. The Skyhawks have now lost four straight games and now trail the Mavericks and Yellow Jackets in the standings.
 
The Mavericks will have a split road home week coming up. They will head out on the road on Tuesday when they take on Westminster before returning home for the final regular season home game on Saturday against Western Colorado.