SILVER CITY, N.M. – The energy was evident in the opening half for the Western New Mexico University men's basketball team Friday night against Colorado Mesa University. Trailing by just five at the break, the Mavericks turned up the heat in the second half to take the 83-61 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference victory.

WNMU (1-20, 1-15 RMAC) came out focused and ready from the tip versus CMU (16-6, 12-4 RMAC). With the game tied at four, junior Emery Range (Grand Rapids, MI/Willow Canyon) helped ignite a 7-2 run to boost the Mustangs in front by five. Freshman Carter Aby (San Tan Valley, AZ/Combs) then finished off the run with a jumper and three-pointer at the 16:14 mark for the 11-6 advantage.

Freshman Willie McCray (Clovis, NM/Clovis/Westwind Prep Academy ) dialed long distance a few minutes later to keep the lead at five at 14-9. The Mustangs kept coming, as they continued to push the tempo and senior Makhtar Fall (Morocco/Ecole Al Jabr) helped give WNMU their biggest lead of the night when he hit his first three-pointer of the year at the 10:15 mark leaving the Mustangs with the 22-16 edge.

Fall had WNMU still in front by three at 30-27 with 3:59 to play in the half when the Mavericks began to turn the tables. A CJ Davis three led to a 9-1 run to close the first half and push CMU to the 36-31 halftime advantage.

Junior Steven Loucks (Yuma, AZ/Cibola) had the Mustangs to within seven just over a minute into the second half before the Mavericks began to pull away. A quick 5-0 run had the lead in double-digits and they wouldn't look back the rest of the way.

WNMU made 21-59 (36) from the field, 6-22 (27) from three and added a 13-18 (72) effort at the foul line. CMU answered with a 32-68 (47) clip, 9-24 (38) from three and 10-13 (77) at the charity stripe.

Loucks was the only Mustang to reach double-figures in scoring putting in 10 points. Aby added nine and freshman Jordan Enriquez (El Paso, TX/Bel Air ) came off the bench to tally eight points. Fall secured a team-high eight rebounds and the Mustangs had five blocks as a team.

Ryan Stephan led CMU with 26 points and 11 rebounds, right around his season averages. Davis tallied 12 points and Kabir West added 10.

CMU held a 46-32 edge on rebounds, which led to a 16-5 advantage on second-chance points. They also cashed in on turnovers holding a 26-7 edge.

WNMU will return to action tomorrow (Saturday) night when they host Westminster beginning at 7:30 p.m. The Griffins posted the 78-69 win over New Mexico Highlands earlier tonight.