SPEARFISH, S.D. – The Colorado Mesa University men's basketball team suffered an 89-77 defeat this evening as they fell to the No. 14 Black Hills State University Yellowjackets in the RMAC Tournament Championship at Donald E. Young Center.
The Mavericks were appearing in their 13th conference championship game in program history with this being the first time they've done so since the 2023-24 season.
Tonight's game was the third time this season that the Mavs and Yellowjackets have faced off with it also being the second straight time at BHSU's home court.
Colorado Mesa now owns a 21-10 record overall while Black Hills improves to 27-4.
Black Hills earns an automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament as well with them being the conference tournament champions.
The Mavs collected a 14-4 lead just five minutes into tonight's game before the Yellowjackets were able to slowly creep their way back.
They would tie the game up at 23 apiece with less than seven minutes left to play in the half while going on a 19-9 run.
They continued to lead for the remainder of the half but only by a single-digit margin.
Colorado Mesa able to bring that margin back to one-point going into halftime thanks to a trio of free throws by Tevin Riehl who was fouled on a shot in the final seconds.
The Mavs closed the half making four of their last five shots while outscoring the Yellowjackets 9-6.
Both teams shot 50 percent or better in the first half with just five total three-pointers being managed.
The duo of Wes Ball and Clayton Jewell both led the Mavs scoring efforts in the first half with Ball totaling 13 points on 5-for-6 shooting off the bench while Jewell added 10, going 5-for-8.
Despite the game being just a one-point difference at half, the Yellowjackets were able to bring it to a 10-point difference quickly into the second half with them outscoring the Mavs 13-6 through just four minutes of play.
The Mavs were able to bring it back to within six points at roughly the 12-minute mark but a 7-0 run in retaliation allowed Black Hills to regain the double-digit lead.
Colorado Mesa rallied once more to bring it to a five-point difference with six minutes to play but the Yellowjackets again responded with a 11-7 advantage over the next four minutes to hold the lead.
BHSU's final eight points, including six in the final minute, all came from the free throw line as the Mavs were forced to foul.
Their largest lead was 13 points.
The Yellowjackets finished the game shooting 54.7 percent with CMU owning a field goal shooting percentage of 46.
BHSU shot 8-for-18 from deep with five of the three-pointers coming in the second half.
For Colorado Mesa, Ball was the leading scorer with him registering a season-high 22 points while grabbing six rebounds. He played 27 minutes off the bench while leading all scorers on the floor.
Ben Henderson added 17 points with five rebounds while Ty Allred had 11 points and Jewell had 10.
The Yellowjackets' were paced by Jackson Seale and Myles Johnson who each had 18 apiece.
The Mavs will now await to see if they are one of the eight teams selected in tomorrow's NCAA tournament selection show, which will air at 9 p.m. MDT on NCAA.com.
Eight teams, including the RMAC and Lone Star Conference Tournament Champions, who will both receive automatic spots, will be selected.
In the most recent rankings the Mavs were ranked eighth as one of two teams from the RMAC in the top eight.
Below is the RMAC's All-Tournament Team.
2026 RMAC Men's Basketball All-Tournament Team
MVP – Jackson Seale, Black Hills State
Cam Lowe, Black Hills State
Tristan Hurdle, Black Hills State
Myles Johnson, Black Hills State
Clayton Jewell, Colorado Mesa
Wes Ball, Colorado Mesa
Stewart Erhart, Fort Lewis
Mac Terry, CSU Pueblo
