Colorado Mesa CMU 18-3,14-1 RMAC

Regis (CO) Regis 12-10,9-7 RMAC

Colorado Mesa CMU

18-3,14-1 RMAC

Final

Feb. 09, 2024

Regis (CO) Regis

12-10,9-7 RMAC

Score By Periods
Team	1	2	F
Colorado Mesa CMU	52	36	88
Regis (CO) Regis	39	39	78

Summary
Box Score

Game Recap: Men's Basketball | Feb 09 | David Wilson, Assistant AD-Communications

No. 10 Colorado Mesa closes first half strong, defeats Rangers, 88-78, to open weekend

DENVER, Colo. — The Regis University men's basketball team battled tough, but had its four-game winning streak come to an end on Friday, falling by an 88-78 final to No. 10 ranked Colorado Mesa University inside the Regis Field House.

Colorado Mesa (18-3 overall, 14-1 RMAC), the defending conference regular season champions, showed its experience and championship pedigree on Friday, taking advantage of some first-half miscues by a young Rangers squad (12-10 overall, 9-7 RMAC) to build its cushion.

"Colorado Mesa is a very good team that forces you to do a lot of things well to stay in the game with them. I thought we got a little impatient at times, offensively, and then we really struggled to block them out and keep them off the boards," said Regis head coach, Brady Bergeson. "I thought those two things were the difference in the game. They've got difficult matchups for everybody and they do a really good job playing off each other."

HOW IT HAPPENED
Regis played toe-to-toe with the nationally ranked Mavericks through the game's opening 10 minutes, trailing just 24-23 at the 10:25 mark following a contested layup from redshirt junior guard Eddy Egun for two of his team-high 16 points.

Maintaining a 35-32 lead nearing the end of the half, Colorado Mesa closed on a 17-7 run aided by second chance opportunities to build a 52-39 lead at the break.

Colorado Mesa finished the first half with eight of its 11 offensive rebounds coming in the opening 20 minutes and a 13-0 advantage in second chance points.

"I thought we were able to create enough misses, defensively, but weren't able to clean up enough of the boards," Bergeson said.

The Mavericks continued that momentum to start the second half, building its lead to as many as 23 points, before the Rangers were able to meticulously work themselves back into the ballgame.

Regis inched back within 14 points after a three-point opportunity cashed in by sophomore Vojin Mastilovic at the 3:10 mark of the second half — and outscored the Mavericks, 39-36, in the second half — but were unable to string enough possessions together to overcome the early deficit as they fell by the 88-78 final.

Joining Egun in double-figures for the Rangers on Friday was sophomore Chase Mayo Harmon, the reigning RMAC Offensive Player of the Week, and freshman guard Jalen Brown with 11 points off the bench.

Mastilovic and freshman Ty Cox each added nine points apiece off the bench, as well, while freshman forward Olafur Styrmisson chipped in eight points and four assists.

Defensively, the Rangers were able to force 22 Colorado Mesa turnovers, winning the points off turnover battle, 26-14.

"I think the growth between when we played them two months ago to now, on our side, is obvious. We still made too many mistakes and on the wrong end of a long run in the first half that really put us behind. But I think our growth and comfortability with who we are and what we're doing is better," Bergeson said. "If we clean up some of the things we've mentioned, I think we have the opportunity to play with those guys and potentially beat them down the road. We hope we get another opportunity and I think our guys would love that challenge."

UP NEXT
The Rangers will look to return to their winning ways on Saturday when they conclude the home stand with a 5 p.m. matchup against Westminster College.

"We didn't spend any time dwelling on things after the game. We handed out scouting reports and know we need to be on our bounce-back mode immediately," Bergeson said. "We didn't want to wait until tomorrow morning to do that. We immediately jumped into the Westminster mindset to be ready for that one."

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