Despite a gritty second half effort, Colorado Christian fell on the road to open 2015, losing 66-64 at Colorado Mesa.
 
The Cougars seemed destined to push the game to overtime, but a last-second jumper by the Mavericks gave the hosts the dramatic victory Friday night.
 
Christian had some ground to make up after a slow start in the first half. The visitors managed just seven first period field goals at a 33% clip, and trailed by eight at the intermission. The Cougars were also hurt by turnovers, with 11 of their 17 giveaways coming in the opening period.
 
This CCU team has battled in every contest this season, though, and true to form, they fought their way back over the final 20 minutes. The Cougars controlled the painted area, out-rebounding the Mavs (30-27) and nearly doubling the scoring output from down low (26-14).
 
Seniors Tyler Shields and Andrew Squiers paced Christian by each scoring 16. The pair were also the team's leading rebounders grabbing eight and five, respectively.
 
Senior forward David Whitmore, who finished with ten points off the bench, hit a jumper with twelve minutes to go to tie the game at 41. While the contest remained tight, Christian were never able to grab the lead away from Mesa.
 
Michael Brown appeared to give the Cougars hope, however, when his old-fashioned three-point play knotted the score at 64 with just eight seconds remaining. It appeared the visitors would get the opportunity for an extra period of play.
 
The Mavericks had other plans, though, and used the final seconds to drain a game-winning basket and send CCU to its second straight loss.
 
Now sitting at 7-5 and 4-2 in the RMAC, CCU must put any frustration of Friday's game aside. Saturday brings a matchup with Western State, and a chance to stay in the top half of the RMAC standings. Tipoff in Gunnison is set for 7:30 PM.