Box Score LAS CRUCES, N.M. -- The Western New Mexico University men's basketball team started strong against Division I New Mexico State University scoring the first five points of the game before the Aggies found their groove en route to a 92-65 victory over the Mustangs Wednesday night inside the Pan Am Arena.
 

Less than 30 seconds in, Lucio Luttrell (Las Cruces, NM/Las Cruces High School) got loose for a three-pointer off a pass from Chad Carter (Tucson, AZ/Ironwood Ridge High School) to open the scoring.
 

Forty seconds later, TJ Riley (Tyler, TX/Chapel Hill High School) delivered a jumper to give WNMU (2-6) a 5-0 lead just over a minute into the game.

 
NMSU (6-4) came back to score the next five points to tie the game before Riley delivered another jumper just outside the paint on a pass from Juan Suarez (Nogales, AZ/Nogales High School) for the 7-5 lead at the 17:29 mark.

 
The Aggies came back to tie the game at seven and eventually take their first lead of the contest just over three minutes in on a dunk by Daniel Mullings.

 
It would turn out to be a lead that NMSU wouldn't relinquish, as the Mustangs kept it close throughout the first half of the opening period, as trailing by four, Carter nailed a trey at the 15:44 off a pass by Riley to trim the deficit to one, 12-11.

 
The Aggies would build the lead as high as six over the next few minutes, but each time the Mustangs had an answer.

 
With NMSU ahead 19-13, Suarez muscled inside for a layup plus the foul. He also made the charity shot to leave NWMU down by just three, nearly seven minutes in.

 
After falling behind again by six following a three by the Aggies, Carter answered with a jumper to again make it a four-point spread, 22-18, near the 13-minute mark.

 
The Aggies answered in a big way, as they reeled off a 9-0 run over the next four-plus minutes to open up a 31-18 lead.

 
NMSU would hold the Mustangs to 14 points over the rest of the first half to take a 53-32 lead into the locker room.

 
The second half witnessed the Mustangs getting outscored by just six points (39-33).

 
The teams traded baskets to open the second stanza, as Riley answered a Aggie bucket 44 seconds in.

 
After that hoop, NMSU tallied the next six points before Riley stopped the run with a jumper off an assist by Suarez.

 
NMSU push the lead into the 30's a couple of times, but the Mustangs made one last run near the end of the game.

 
Down by 28, Chris Mason (Phoenix, AZ/St. Mary's High School) connected on a pair of free throws, which he followed that with a jumper to cut the deficit to 26, after NMSU followed his foul shots with a dunk.

 
Mason then closed the scoring for the game from the foul line hitting again on two foul shots.

 
Riley led WNMU with 21 points, while Carter added 18 and eight from Ryan Crane (Anthem, AZ/Boulder Creek High School). Riley also led the team in rebounds with six and was second in assists with four. Carter also had five rebounds, while Suarez led the team in assists with five.

 
NMSU shot over 49 percent from the field (28-57), while holding WNMU to just over 39 percent (22-56).
From the outside, WNMU made one more three-pointer, going 6-of-19 to 5-of-17 for the Aggies.

 
Free throws were a big difference on the night, as NMSU got to the line 28 more times and made 16 more foul shots than WNMU, connecting on 31-of-43 to 15-of-17 for the Mustangs.

 
WNMU will remain on the road as they will head north up I-25 to battle CSU-Pueblo Friday night with tipoff set for 7:30 p.m.

Western New Mexico vs New Mexico State
12/14/11 7 PM at Las Cruces, N.M. (Pan American Center)
At Las Cruces, N.M. (Pan American Center)
NEW MEXICO STATE 92, WESTERN NEW MEXICO 65
WESTERN NEW MEXICO (2-6)
TJ Riley (Tyler, TX/Chapel Hill High School) 8-13 4-5 21; Chad Carter (Tucson, AZ/Ironwood Ridge High School) 6-13 4-5 18; Ryan Crane (Anthem, AZ/Boulder Creek High School) 3-7 0-0 8; Chris
Mason 1-6 6-6 8; Brelan Berry (Chandler, AZ/Basha High School) 2-3 0-0 4; Everett Duis (El Paso, TX/El Dorado High School) 1-3 0-0 3; Lucio
Luttrell 1-5 1-1 3; Edward Estavillo (Willcox, AZ/Willcox High School) 0-0 0-0 0; Merle Branch (Sierra Vista, AZ/Buena High School) 0-2 0-0 0;
Daryl Littleton (Tucson, AZ/Palo Verde High School) 0-2 0-0 0; Juan Suarez (Nogales, AZ/Nogales High School) 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 22-56 15-17 65.
NEW MEXICO STATE (6-4)
McKines, Wendell 6-14 5-6 18; Laroche, Hernst 6-9 4-5 18; Rahman, Hamidu 5-6
3-7 13; Nephawe, Tshilidzi 2-5 8-10 12; Mullings, Daniel 3-8 2-2 9; Barry,
Remi 1-3 4-4 7; de Rouen, Terrel 2-3 2-5 6; Sy, Bandja 2-6 2-2 6; Dixon,
Renaldo 1-3 1-2 3; Watson, Tyrone 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 28-57 31-43 92.
Western New Mexico............   32   33  -   65
New Mexico State..............   53   39  -   92
3-point goals--Western New Mexico 6-19 (Chad Carter (Tucson, AZ/Ironwood Ridge High School) 2-3; Ryan Crane (Anthem, AZ/Boulder Creek High School) 2-6;
Everett Duis (El Paso, TX/El Dorado High School) 1-2; TJ Riley (Tyler, TX/Chapel Hill High School) 1-2; Juan Suarez (Nogales, AZ/Nogales High School) 0-1; Lucio Luttrell (Las Cruces, NM/Las Cruces High School) 0-3; Chris
Mason 0-2), New Mexico State 5-17 (Laroche, Hernst 2-3; McKines, Wendell
1-4; Barry, Remi 1-2; Mullings, Daniel 1-4; Sy, Bandja 0-2; Dixon, Renaldo
0-1; de Rouen, Terrel 0-1). Fouled out--Western New Mexico-Chad Carter (Tucson, AZ/Ironwood Ridge High School); Juan
Suarez, New Mexico State-None. Rebounds--Western New Mexico 27 (TJ Riley (Tyler, TX/Chapel Hill High School) 6),
New Mexico State 46 (Rahman, Hamidu 13). Assists--Western New Mexico 13
(Juan Suarez (Nogales, AZ/Nogales High School) 5), New Mexico State 11 (Watson, Tyrone 3; Laroche, Hernst 3).
Total fouls--Western New Mexico 26, New Mexico State 17. Technical
fouls--Western New Mexico-None, New Mexico State-None. A-4671