Historic Weekend For CMU Men’s Basketball
It was a very special weekend for the Colorado Mesa University Mavericks.
For the first time in their NCAA II history, the CMU men's basketball team defeated a nationally ranked number one team. On Saturday, the #7 Mavericks beat top-ranked Colorado School of Mines in Golden 64-58 to claim the historic win. Georgie Dancer and Ethan Menzies both had 17 points to help the Mavs erase a 13-point first-half deficit and outscore the Orediggers 40-27 in the second half.
It was the first loss of the season for the #1 ranked Orediggers who fell to 12-1 on the season, while the Mavs improved to an impressive 16-1.
In case you had not noticed, the CMU men's basketball team is having a very special season and they are more than worthy of some special recognition.
The Mavericks won their first 11 games of the season before suffering their first loss at the hands of Western Colorado University on January 30 in Gunnison by a score of 78-72.
It has definitely been an exciting season for the Mavericks. With 16 wins in 17 games, the Mavs have had their share of nailbiters. Five of the wins have come in overtime - and two of those were double overtime thrillers.
On Friday, Colorado Mesa will try to avenge its only loss of the season when they host Western Colorado at Brownson Arena. The Mavs will close out the regular season on Saturday against Fort Lewis, before heading into the RMAC tournament on March 2.
The Mavericks won their first-ever RMAC tournament title last year when they defeated Colorado Mines for the championship to advance to the NCAA tournament. It was the first time CMU had won an RMAC tournament game since 2016. Unfortunately, last year's NCAA tournament was canceled because of the pandemic and we never got to see how far the Mavericks would go.
The Mavericks were 21-10 last season, and have been even better this year. Following that historic win over Mines this past weekend and the postseason just around the corner, the Mavericks are hoping to continue this amazing ride all the way to the NCAA tournament. With a win over the nation's top-ranked team, they know what they are capable of and the Mavs have their sights set on winning their first-ever national championship.