GUNNISON, Colo. – A late Colorado Mesa run in the second half and cool shooting by the Aggies allowed for an 81-73 Maverick win at the Comfort Inn Classic on the campus of Western State Colorado on Friday evening. 

Cameron led as many as nine points five minutes in the second half but an 11-2 run by CMU proved to be the difference as the Aggies fell to 1-2 on the road.

JV Long led the Aggies with 14 points and five assists with the team shooting 44.4% (28-63).  CU led at the half 43-34 thanks to seven made three-pointers but they would go 1-of-11 from the arc in the final 20 minutes.  Freshman Tyler Williams had 11 points and closed out the half with back-to-back treys to give the Aggies the lead at the half.

Cameron didn't have many answers for Colorado Mesa's Ryan Stephan who was leading the nation in scoring entering Friday night's contest.  Stephan had a double-double with 29 points and 12 rebounds.

Colorado Mesa also had plenty of extra chances at the line with the Aggies committing 23 fouls and CMU would go 26-for-36 to help their scoring effort.

The rebounding battle was even with both teams at 39, CU shot the ball slightly better with CMU going 41.1% on the court.  The Aggies would have 12 steals, four more than the Mavericks, however they would win the points off turnovers 21 to 15 over Cameron.

Jamaal Brantley was CU's other scorer in double-figures with 10 points and six rebounds.  Aleksandar Malinic led the Aggies with seven boards.

With the win over Cameron, Colorado Mesa will move to 2-1 overall.

The Aggies will return to the court on Saturday to face Western State at 8 p.m.