COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – The University of Colorado Colorado Springs men's basketball team falls to Colorado Mesa University (CMU) in their closest game of the season so far, 72-75. UCCS led for the majority of the game (31:55) but conceded the lead in the final 30 thirty seconds and couldn't recover for their second loss of the season. The Mountain Lions now have a 4-2 record this season and a 1-1 record in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference.

CMU finished the game shooting 50 percent from the field (25-50) and 40 percent from the three-point line (9-20), while UCCS shot 44.4 percent from the field (28-63) and 36.8 percent from long range (7-19). The Mavericks also added 16 free throws to UCCS' nine, which became critical down the stretch of this game.

Parker Gaddis led the Mountain Lions in scoring with 17 points (7-14 FG) and added four assists and five rebounds. Padiet Wang and Blend Avdili followed suit with 13 and 10 points, respectively, while Wang added three assists, two steals and six rebounds and Avdili had four assists and three rebounds. William Becker led all players with 11 rebounds (five offensive) and added eight points to the Mountain Lion total as well.  

In the first half, UCCS led for all but six minutes, but their largest lead of the half was only six points in the early stages of the half (11-5). Both teams shot very well in the first period, with CMU outshooting UCCS 62.5 percent to 50 percent. However, UCCS added five free-throws and five three-pointers to end the half up 42-40.

The second half did not feature the offensive efficiency of the first as both teams shot under 40 percent from the field overall. The difference in the game came down to free-throws and CMU went 13-for-14 from the charity stripe in the second half, while UCCS went 4-for-6. The Mavericks' two leading scorers, Georgie Dancer (21 points) and Tommy Nuno (20 points), combined to make all of the team's free-throws and helped the Mavericks end the game on a 9-2 run. UCCS tried to heave a last second shot as time expired but it was off the mark.

The Mountain Lions are back in action tomorrow night as they get set to take on Western State Colorado University. The game is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. inside Gallogly Events Center.