ALAMOSA, Colo. – If a fan were to watch the Adams State Grizzlies for the first time all season Saturday night, they would have never been able to tell that they were a team eliminated from postseason play, or that they were fresh off of five straight blowout losses. The Grizzlies fought to the absolute finish against fourth-place Colorado Mesa Saturday night, giving every ounce of grit and toughness they had, for the sake of their pride and reputation. In the end unfortunately, they came up just short, falling to the Mavericks by a score of 91-94.
                      
The Grizzlies made up for their size disadvantage against the lanky Mavericks with a series of defensive switches that forced them to go outside and take chance from deep. On this night, the Grizzlies were cooking from three-point range, and would be able to counter anything CMU threw at them, thanks to their four key players on the night, Rickey Norris, Rylan O'Brien, Logan Longo and Kaelin Crane. The game appeared to be going down the wire the entire game with two offenses who had terrific nights, and it absolutely did.
 
Senior Forward Rickey Norris led the charge, as he registered what was perhaps the best performance of his Adams State Career. Mavericks bigs had no answer for Norris on the offensive end, as he dropped a season-high 25 points on the evening. His tenacity on defense was rewarded with 11 boards and a pair of steals, which kept the Grizzlies in the ballgame the entire way. Playing 38 minutes, Norris did his best to lead his team to a victory, and although the game ultimately resulted in a loss, Norris' complete game will remain a performance that many remember for years to come.
 
Joining Norris in double figures were sharpshooting guards Logan Longo and Rylan O'brien, who each finished with 16 points. The duo was able to knock down timely buckets that were monumental in keeping the Grizzlies in the fast pace of the game. The Grizzlies' slasher, guard Juwan Green was the floor general that executed the offensive game plan to near-perfection, as he finished with 15 on the evening. Forward Kaelin Crane finished with 9 to round out the Grizzlies starters, but provided an earthquake of momentum throwing down a thunderous second-half dunk on a Maverick defender that rocked the crowd and let Colorado Mesa know that the Grizzlies were not backing down from the fight at any capacity.
 
With just 13 seconds remaining with the Grizzlies down two, they were forced to foul and hope that CMU guard Michael Skinner would miss a free throw. He hit the first but missed the second and the Grizzlies still clung to hope, and put the ball in Juwan Green's hands to try and tie the game from three. Green's long attempt failed, but no one would argue that the Grizzlies did not bring their edge on this evening. There are no moral victories, but a game like this after the stretch that the team had just endured returns the identity back to a very tough basketball team.
 
The Grizzlies will be back in action one final time in the 2019-20 season, as they prepare to host Fort Lewis next Friday.