LAKEWOOD, Colo. – ASHTON SPEARS banked in a 3-pointer as time expired to lift No. 20 St. Edward's to a 79-76 win over Colorado Mesa in the 2019-20 season opener on Friday at the D2 Conference Challenge.

The Hilltoppers trailed 76-74 before Spears hit a contested layup with 33 seconds remaining. The Mavericks attempted to take the lead on their final possession, but came up empty after Tommy Nuno missed a jumper in the paint.

St. Edward's called a timeout to set up the final play.

DORIAN LOPEZ hurled the inbound pass to JAKE KRAFKA, who then dribbled across halfcourt and passed to Spears. The Independence, La., native took two dribbles toward the middle of the court and then launched a contested shot from 35-feet away that hit off the backboard and went through the net as time expired.

The Hilltoppers led by as much as 17 points in the game, but their lead was wiped away with 13:20 to play, as Nuno broke free for a layup to tie the game at 49-all. The two teams played even for the next nine minutes. A free throw by Spears and two from COREY SHERVILL allowed SEU to take a 70-67 advantage.

George Dancer's layup with 3:06 left cut the lead to one point. LUCAS DORIA then hit one of two shots from the charity stripe to push the lead back to two. However, Colorado Mesa received a 3-pointer from Jess Spivey that gave the Mavericks a 72-71 edge.

The 'Toppers picked up another free throw from Shervill to tie the game with 2:15 to play. Nuno answered with two free throws that pushed CMU to the 74-72 lead before Spears took over for the final stretch of the game.

Spears poured in a game-high 28 points, while RYAN GARZA connected for 14, including 11 in the first half. AUGUST HAAS chipped in with 11 for St. Edward's.

The Hilltoppers shot 46.7 percent (28 of 60) from the field, including 46.2 percent (12 of 26) from beyond the arc.

St. Edward's will close out the tournament against host Colorado Christian at 2 p.m. (CT) Saturday.




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