GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. (Dec. 18, 2021) – Two late turnovers cost the Colorado State University Pueblo men's basketball squad a loss to Colorado Mesa after leading by as many as 10 points in the first half.
 
Elijah Moleon (Jr., Killeen, Texas) kicked things off by grabbing an offensive rebound and finishing with a two-handed slam that scored the first bucket of the night. Later in the half, coming out of a media timeout, Micah Lamberth (Fr., Colorado Springs, Colo.) brought the ball in from the side-line and lobbed up a pass to De'Shaun Cooper (Fr., Poway, Calif.) who scored his first basket of the season with an emphatic alley-oop.
 
Lian Ramiro (Fr., Aurora, Colo.) started the game hot, knocking down his first four 3-pointers in the first 15 minutes that helped the Pack maintain a 6-point lead before it was Meekness Payne (Jr., Phoenix, Ariz.) turn to the heat up. Payne finished strong at the rim while absorbing contact before knocking down back-to-back turnaround mid-range jumpers that gave the Pack their biggest lead of the half at 40-30 with 3 minutes left in the half.
 
The Pack went into the break with a 40-34 lead while shooting 60.7% from the field which included 5-8 from 3-point territory.
 
The ThunderWolves lead quickly diminished as the Mavericks opened the half with an 11-3 run and took a 45-44 lead that forced head coach Matt Hammer to call his first timeout of the game with 15:18 on the clock.
 
The teams traded baskets for the next 10 minutes as neither team gave up as much as a 2-point lead, before two costly turnovers from the ThunderWolves gave the Mavericks a 70-63 lead 5 minutes to play.
 
Moleon bullied his way in the paint and finished off the glass followed by a pair of free-throws from Ramiro that cut the deficit down to 75-69 with 1:17 left on the clock but the deficit was just too much as the Mavericks held on to an 85-75 win over the ThunderWolves.
 
Despite out-rebounding the Mavericks 32-27, the ThunderWolves finished the game shooting 46.7% which included 28-60 from the field and 6-19 from deep. Ramiro led the Pack with 20 points, 5 rebounds and 3 assists while Payne added 16 points with 7 of 12 shooting from the field. Moleon finished the game with 13 points and 5 rebounds and Tristan Hurdle (Fr., Highlands Ranch, Colo.) added 12 points.
 
The ThunderWolves will be back in action at Massari Arena on New Year's Eve and New Year's Day as the team gets ready to host Colorado Christian and MSU Denver. Both games scheduled for 7:30 p.m.