Box Score GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. – The Cowboys held a 48-41 advantage with a minute left in the first half, but a three before intermission jumpstarted a 14-1 Mavericks run as New Mexico Highlands (10-12, 7-11 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference) fell to Colorado Mesa (11-11, 9-9 RMAC) 97-80 Friday night (Feb. 14) in Grand Junction, Colo.
The Cowboys trailed by 10 in the first half before a 21-4 run – including 10 unanswered to tie the game – gave the visitors a 48-41 lead. Trailing 37-27 with 7:20 left in the first half, senior
Stuart Sullivan started the spurt with a layup. Sullivan then picked the Mavericks' pocket and raced to the basket to cut the deficit to six. Senior
Mannie Cass and senior
Lavell McDade hit back-to-back triples to tie the game with 4:13 left in the half. A split in a pair of trips to the line for the home team between a jumper and layup by senior
Stargell Love put the Cowboys in the lead.
Leading 43-41, Highlands' Sullivan hit a jumper and the hoop and harm by Cass gave the visitors a 48-41 lead with 53 seconds left to half. However, Colorado Mesa's Joe Kiely hit a three at the buzzer to cut the lead to four at half.
Sullivan came off the bench for a game-best 22 points for Highlands, hitting 9-for-15 from the field. Love and Cass also added double-digit scoring with 21 and 12 points, respectively.
An 11-1 run after the break gave the home team the lead for good. Ryan Stephen, who had 17 points for the Mavericks, came out of the lockeroom with a pair of free throws. After a defensive rebound by Stephen, fellow 17-point scorer Landon Vermeer tied the game with a jumper. Vermeer followed that up with a triple.
McDade looked to quash the run when he split from the line, but Kiely and Jon Orr split from the charity stripe and Stephen capped the spurt with a jumper. Sullivan cut the deficit to one with a layup, but an 11-2 run broke the game open.
The Cowboys could not climb within seven the rest of the game. Orr led Colorado Mesa with 19 points.
The Cowboys return to action tomorrow at Western State at 7:30 p.m. The last time these two teams met on Dec. 13, 2013, Cass scored a career-best 41 points as the Cowboys won in double overtime 101-99. Cass tied the game at the buzzer in regulation and a tough jumper in the lane with one second left in the first overtime, hitting the game-winning free throws in the second free period.
