PUEBLO, Colo. (Jan. 12, 2019) – The Colorado State University-Pueblo men's basketball team fell to Colorado Mesa University 98-91 in a Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference battle Saturday at Massari Arena.
The ThunderWolves (5-10, 3-6 RMAC) knocked down 16 3-pointers in the loss, but it wasn't enough for the Mavericks' (11-4, 6-3 RMAC) inside game where they totaled 56 points in the paint. The high percentage shots led to a 52.2 percent effort from the field, while the Pack ended the game shooting better from long range (48.5%) than from the field (46.8%).
Both teams had small double-digit leads during the contest and just about split time with the advantage at 20:50 for the Mavericks and 17:28 for the ThunderWolves. Rebounds were also close at 39-33 in the favor of CMU. Turnovers hurt the Pack, as 18 miscues guided 28 points off turnovers for the road team. Colorado Mesa also made more free throws (25-for-31) than CSU-Pueblo attempted (17-for-23), although a large number of those came in the final minutes when the Pack were tying to claw back to a one-possession contest.
Four players scored in double figures, with both the top scorers coming off the bench. Freshman Cade Carrol (F, Buena Vista, Colo.) dropped 20 points with five 3-pointers and added five rebounds with three steals. He shot 5-for-7 (71.4%) from long range and was 6-of-9 (66.7%) from the field.
Redshirt-freshman Dalen Jackson (G, Colorado Springs, Colo.) added 19 points, four rebounds and two assists. He hit three from beyond the arch and was 8-for-12 (66.7%) in the game.
Donovan Oldham (R-Jr., G/F, Colorado Springs, Colo.) scored 16 points and brought down five rebounds with three assists and two blocks. Gavin Liggett (G, Limon, Colo.) went 8-for-8 from the charity stripe and added two 3-pointers to finish with 14 points. He also had three steals.
The Pack held the lead for the first six minutes of the game , but trailed by one at 18-17 with 12:31 remaining in the first. CSU-Pueblo then went off and posted a 13-0 run to build a 12-point lead at 30-18 with 9:14 showing on the game clock. The Pack had three buckets from downtown in the run, while Carrol scored the first six points and Jackson produced the next seven points in the stretch.
The advantage went as high as 14 and following an Oldham 3-pointer with 2:45 left in the frame the ThunderWolves were leading 43-30. Unfortunately, the Pack wouldn't score the rest of the half and a 14-0 run by the Mavericks gave the road team a 44-43 lead heading to the locker room. CSU-Pueblo only got one shot off in their final five possessions, as four turnovers equated to 10 Maverick points, which included a four-point play.
Colorado Mesa went on to score the first six points of the second half and it was 2:41 into that half before the ThunderWolves would score, snapping a 20-0 run and a stretch of 5:26 without a point.
Credit to the Pack, as the home team was within one at 57-56 with 12:47 left and then a Jackson 3-pointer with 7:41 remaining tied the contest 66-66. The ThunderWolves just couldn't get on the winning side of the back-and-forth play and then CMU posted a run to open a 12-point advantage at 82-70 with 3:29 left in regulation.
Again the ThunderWolves didn't quit and got within a possession at 92-89 with 25 seconds left, but it was just not enough time to pick up the RMAC win and the Pack would fall by seven at 98-91.
CSU-Pueblo will go on the road for its next four games, which begins Jan. 18-19 at Metro State University of Denver and Chadron State College.
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As a member of the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference, Colorado State University – Pueblo competes in 22 varsity sports in NCAA Division II intercollegiate athletics.
