GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. – Nos. 9 and 14 Colorado Mesa went on a 13-0 run early in the second half and MSU Denver never quite recovered Saturday night as the Mavericks went on for a 92-81 victory.
 
MSU Denver trailed 42-40 before Mesa started its decisive spurt to build a 55-40 advantage.
 
"Credit to Mesa," MSU Denver coach Dan Ficke said. "They came out of halftime and threw a haymaker that knocked us back. But credit to our guys, we cut it to six but just couldn't get over the hump and get the final couple stops we needed to tie it up."


The Roadrunners closed with six points five different times, the last at 72-66 with 4:48 to play. Then Ryan Maslow, with inside position for a defensive rebound, was called for a foul and Mesa made two free throws and led by at least eight the rest of the way.
 
Ten of the first 13 fouls in the second half were on MSU Denver, before each team was called for two meaningless fouls in the final 65 seconds.
 
"We didn't do good job of playing without fouling in the second half and sent them to the free throw line significantly more than we got there," Ficke said.
 
MSU Denver outscored Colorado Mesa 73-69 from the field, but Mesa (which didn't miss a free throw) outscored the Roadrunners 23-8 at the charity stripe. The Roadrunners have seen opponents have an 87-51 advantage in free throw attempts in three of their last four losses.
 
MSU Denver (16-8 overall, 10-8 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference) led for more than nine minutes in the first half while knocking down 5 of 6 from 3-point range.
 
Colorado Mesa (21-3, 17-1) led 42-38 at halftime.
 
"We came out of the gate ready to play and it was what you expect in a game like this with two powerhouse teams,  back and forth," Ficke said. "I liked where we were at going into the locker room down four. We've got to be better at the start of the second half."
 
Guard Brayden Maldonado led MSU Denver with 21 points and eight rebounds, while Maslow made 4 of 6 from 3-point range and scored 14. KJ Garrett had 12 points and five assists and Caleb McGill, limited to 20 minutes by foul trouble, had 10 points.
 
MSU Denver shot 57.6 percent from the field (19 of 33) in the second half.
 
The Roadrunners slipped to fifth in the RMAC, one game behind Black Hills State. Both teams would likely be expected to go 3-1 in their  remaining games in the battle for the fourth place, which would result in a first-round home game in the RMAC Tournament.
 
"I still like our remaining schedule, even though we have two on the road next week and a big one at home with Fort Lewis the following week," Ficke said. "We have to do our best to control what we can control, try to go 1-0 at Chadron State on Friday, try to get a second one back in the Denver area Saturday (against Colorado Christian) and then finish the way we should with two home games."