Box Score COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – The Western New Mexico University men's basketball team opened with a 2-0 lead against the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs and as the game would turn out, that would be their only lead of the night despite coming close several times before falling to the Mountain Lions, 71-63, Saturday night in Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference play.


Brelan Berry (Chandler, AZ/Basha High School) opened the scoring for WNMU (2-8, 2-4 RMAC) 17 seconds in with a jumper off an assist by Juan Suarez (Nogales, AZ/Nogales High School).


UCCS (4-8, 3-3 RMAC) came back with a 5-0 run and as it would turn out, they would carry that lead all the way to the end, although the Mustangs came back to tie the game a couple of times and come close to taking the lead again throughout the night.


The lead would get as high as 11 for the Mountain Lions at the 11:26 mark after Alex Koehler connected on a three-pointer for a 17-6 lead.


That led to a big Mustang rally, as WNMU went on a tear started by a layup by Chris Mason (Phoenix, AZ/St. Mary's High School). TJ Riley (Tyler, TX/Chapel Hill High School) then tallied a layup, plus a free throw to trim the deficit to six, 17-11. The run continued after UCCS hit a three, Ryan Crane (Anthem, AZ/Boulder Creek High School) answered with his own triple to cut it to a five-point game. Mason followed a missed shot by the Mustangs with an offensive rebound and putback to get WNMU within three and the Mustangs would draw to within one on the next drive down the floor with Merle Branch (Sierra Vista, AZ/Buena High School) laying it up for two off a dish by Riley to leave UCCS ahead by just one, 19-18, with eight minutes to go before halftime.


UCCS would counter with a 5-0 run to get some breathing room again and after WNMU got to within three at the 4:35 mark on a jumper from Mason, UCCS would take a six-point lead into the locker room, 34-28.


The Mountain Lions roared out of the break scoring the first four points to push the lead back into double-digits, but the Mustangs kept chipping away. A jumper from Berry and a layup from Riley six minutes in had WNMU back within four, 42-38.


After UCCS hit a trey to go back up seven, the Mustangs fought back to tie the game with a 7-0 spurt.


Branch started the run with a layup off an offensive board, which Chad Carter (Tucson, AZ/Ironwood Ridge High School) followed hitting one of two from the line. Riley then came away with some thievery to setup a Branch transition layup to leave WNMU down two. Riley then did it himself a minute later with a layup that knotted the game for the second time at 45 just under the halfway point of the second half.


Just like before, every time WNMU seemed to get close, UCCS had another run up their sleeves.


This one consisted of a 7-0 run that lasted just over two minutes to give the Mountain Lions a 52-45 lead with eight minutes to play.


UCCS would even get the lead back to their high mark of 11 at the 6:12 mark, but that didn't deter the Mustangs.


Carter answered with a three and then four freebies from Mason had WNMU back within four, 58-54, with 4:31 to play.


In a game of runs, the Mountain Lions reeled off a 6-0 run to open up a 10-point lead, 64-54, with three minutes to play, but the Mustangs still had one more good run left in them.


WNMU answered with their own run, as Riley hit a pair from the free throw line, then after Branch split a pair at the line and Carter hit two at the line, Mason pounded one inside for two leaving WNMU down by just three, 64-61, with 1:48 to play.


That would end up being as close as the Mustangs would get, as UCCS came back with a big offensive rebound on a missed three, which led to a Mustang foul. They would hit both foul shots to pull ahead by five. The Mustangs looked to counter quickly, but missed a layup by Mason and then he was forced to foul to save time with only a minute to play. UCCS again hit both from the line to put the lead at seven, 68-61.After the Mustangs missed two three-pointers on their next trip around a missed foul shot by UCCS, Mason collected the offensive rebound on the second missed three and put it back in for two cutting the deficit back to five with 36 seconds to play. WNMU had one last chance, with UCCS turning the ball over with 30 seconds left, but a missed layup by WNMU with 27 seconds left ended the hopes of a comeback, as UCCS hit both foul shots again to open up a seven-point lead and would end up hitting one of two from the foul line on their next trip to pull out the eight point win.


Mason came off the bench and in 15 minutes he scored a career-high 16 points as the true-freshman also had seven rebounds and shot 50 percent from the field (6-12). Riley also found his way into double-figures with 11, along with five rebounds and five assists. Carter, Berry and Branch all chipped in eight points apiece.


Although WNMU shot just 31.4 from the field (22-70), they did well getting to the foul line, as they went 17-of-25, making six more than UCCS (11-17).


UCCS held an advantage in field goals made, connecting on 26-of-65 and also made six more three-pointers (8-2).


WNMU will have the Christmas break off before returning to action on Friday, December 30 when they will host Colorado Christian with gametime set for 7:30 p.m. inside Drag's Court.
 

Western New Mexico vs UCCS
12/17/11 7:30 pm at Colorado Springs, CO (Gallogly Center)
At Colorado Springs, CO (Gallogly Center)
UCCS 71, WESTERN NEW MEXICO 63
WESTERN NEW MEXICO (2-8, 2-4 RMAC)
Chris Mason (Phoenix, AZ/St. Mary's High School) 6-12 4-4 16; TJ Riley (Tyler, TX/Chapel Hill High School) 3-13 5-6 11; Chad Carter (Tucson, AZ/Ironwood Ridge High School) 2-14 3-4 8;
Brelan Berry (Chandler, AZ/Basha High School) 4-9 0-2 8; Merle Branch (Sierra Vista, AZ/Buena High School) 3-7 2-4 8; Lucio Luttrell (Las Cruces, NM/Las Cruces High School) 2-5 1-3 5;
Ryan Crane (Anthem, AZ/Boulder Creek High School) 2-4 0-0 5; Juan Suarez (Nogales, AZ/Nogales High School) 0-6 2-2 2; Daryl Littleton (Tucson, AZ/Palo Verde High School) 0-0 0-0 0.
Totals 22-70 17-25 63.
UCCS (4-8, 3-3 RMAC)
Darius Pardner 5-11 2-2 14; Jake Darby 5-15 3-4 14; Matt Heydman 4-7 1-2 10;
Jeff Isaac 4-7 2-2 10; George Pollard 2-10 3-5 9; Alex Koehler 2-7 0-0 6;
Kyle Clark 3-3 0-0 6; Jordan Carter 1-3 0-2 2; Joell Crawford 0-2 0-0 0.
Totals 26-65 11-17 71.
Western New Mexico............   28   35  -   63
UCCS..........................   34   37  -   71
3-point goals--Western New Mexico 2-17 (Chad Carter (Tucson, AZ/Ironwood Ridge High School) 1-4; Ryan Crane (Anthem, AZ/Boulder Creek High School) 1-2;
Lucio Luttrell (Las Cruces, NM/Las Cruces High School) 0-2; Juan Suarez (Nogales, AZ/Nogales High School) 0-3; TJ Riley (Tyler, TX/Chapel Hill High School) 0-4; Chris Mason (Phoenix, AZ/St. Mary's High School) 0-2), UCCS
8-24 (Darius Pardner 2-5; Alex Koehler 2-6; George Pollard 2-7; Jake Darby
1-2; Matt Heydman 1-3; Joell Crawford 0-1). Fouled out--Western New
Mexico-Lucio Luttrell (Las Cruces, NM/Las Cruces High School), UCCS-None. Rebounds--Western New Mexico 44 (Merle
Branch 9), UCCS 50 (Matt Heydman 9). Assists--Western New Mexico 12 (TJ
Riley 5), UCCS 13 (Jake Darby 4). Total fouls--Western New Mexico 14, UCCS
18. Technical fouls--Western New Mexico-TEAM, UCCS-None. A-380