GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. – The Westminster men's basketball team fought off a pair of rallies from Colorado Mesa to earn an 89-82 road win on Saturday night in Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference action.
 
Westminster (13-6, 13-4 RMAC) has now won eight consecutive games – including six of those on the road – for the first time since the 2012-13 season. It's the first time they have won eight consecutive conference games since they won 10 straight during the 2009-10 season as members of the Frontier Conference.
 
"We responded well tonight when things weren't going our way," Westminster assistant coach Kyle Hodgson said of the Griffins performance. "We really learned a lot about what it takes to win in this league."
 
Colorado Mesa (7-16, 6-11 RMAC) made the Griffins earn Saturday's win as they twice rallied from double-digit deficits to make the game close. After the Griffins scored 10 straight points to lead 27-14 midway through the first half, Mesa took the lead at 35-34 with 2:15 to play as they capped a 21-7 burst with 15 straight points of their own.
 
The game featured 14 lead changes – all in the first half – with the final one coming when Tanner Newbold hit a three with 19 seconds to play in the period that gave the Griffins a 44-42 lead. Westminster's lead hovered around five to seven points until they went for a 13-5 spurt to lead 77-64 with 6:12 remaining.
 
The Mavericks wouldn't go away and had it to a one-possession game with a three by James Sylvester with 1:10 on the clock. Mason Smith answered with a dunk and a free throw to make it 86-80 with 38 seconds to play.
 
It was 86-82 with 32 seconds to play when the teams traded turnovers. Zerrion Payton made two free throws and the Griffins got a defensive stop to secure the victory.
 
"We needed to do a better job of playing the full 40 minutes," Hodgson added. "Give Mesa a lot of credit, we let up once we got a lead and those guys kept fighting."
 
Westminster shot 45.5 percent from the floor on the night and they tallied 20 assists on 30 made baskets. They dominated the boards, 46-30, and got 18 points from 17 offensive rebounds.
 
Five Griffins scored in double figures with Casey Evans leading the way with a season-high 22 points. He was 9 of 18 from the floor with a pair of threes. Evans also contributed five rebounds, three assists, and two blocked shots.
 
The Griffins held Mesa to 39.6 percent shooting and just 7 of 23 from beyond the arc. They got 19 points from 11 Maverick turnovers with only 14 turnovers committed on offense.
 
Dayon Goodman added 15 points and eight rebounds for the Griffins. Payton scored 14 points with five assists while Smith went for 11 points and eight rebounds.
 
Sylvester led CMU with 23 points and Eimer Lopez added 20.
 
The win moved the Griffins into a tie for third-place in the RMAC standings with Colorado State – Pueblo with five games to play. Westminster will play all five of those games at home beginning on Friday against that same CSU-Pueblo team. The action begins at 7:30 p.m. in the Behnken Field House and tickets are available at WestminsterGriffins.com/tickets.