Box Score SILVER CITY, N.M. – With a near capacity crowd the Western New Mexico University men's basketball team gave the home crowd plenty to cheer for as they defeated New Mexico Highlands University, 93-75, Saturday night in Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference action inside Drag's Court.


The game was a battle throughout the first half, with the teams tying six times with the last one coming near the midway point of the first half at 23-all.


Chris Mason (Phoenix, AZ/St. Mary's High School) boosted the Mustangs (6-11, 6-7 RMAC) in front by three as he connected on a foul shot and then delivered a layup for a 26-23 lead.


NMHU (8-9, 6-7 RMAC) would fight back to go back in front by a point on a pair of occasions with the last at 32-31 before WNMU closed the half strong.


Mason sprung the Mustangs back ahead with a deep three, which he followed with a defensive rebound and then a layup on the other end for a four-point lead.


Everett Duis (El Paso, TX/El Dorado High School) then connected on a corner three off a pass from Chad Carter (Tucson, AZ/Ironwood Ridge High School) to once again bring the crowd to their feet and give the Mustangs a 39-32 lead at the 4:10 mark.


The Cowboys tallied a basket on their next possession, but the Mustangs weren't to be denied, with TJ Riley (Tyler, TX/Chapel Hill High School) posting two free throws, followed by a jumper from Carter and a big putback by Merle Branch (Sierra Vista, AZ/Buena High School) for a 45-34 lead with just over a minute to go before the break.


The lead would reach 13 a few seconds later on a layup by Juan Suarez (Nogales, AZ/Nogales High School) before NMHU scored a late layup to leave WNMU ahead, 47-36, at halftime.


WNMU kept the pressure on high intensity throughout the second half, with Carter hitting a pair from the line to push the lead to 19 and then Mason added to that with a tip-in at the 12:28 mark to give the Mustangs their biggest lead of the night, 68-47.


The Cowboys still had a run left in them, cutting the deficit back to 12 on a couple of occasions, but the Mustangs answered back with layups from Carter and Branch to push the lead back to 16.


Carter then helped put a final bow on this one as he split the press and went in for a thunderous dunk with just under two minutes to play and then he delivered a three near the top of the key with 26 seconds to play to give WNMU a 20-point lead and eventually an 18-point win.


Riley led all-scorers with 24 points, to go along with four assists and three steals. Carter was right behind with 19, while he also pulled down nine rebounds and had four blocks. Mason (14) and Suarez (11) also found their way into double-digits.
WNMU shot over 50 percent (31-61), and right at 50 from downtown (8-16).


WNMU will return to action Friday night when they host the University of Colorado-Colorado Springs at 7:30 p.m. inside Drag's Court.
 

New Mexico Highlands vs Western New Mexico
01/21/12 6:07 pm at Silver City, NM (Drag's Court)
At Silver City, NM (Drag's Court)
WESTERN NEW MEXICO 93, NEW MEXICO HIGHLANDS 75
NEW MEXICO HIGHLANDS (8-9, 6-7 RMAC)
Momcilo Latinovic 5-12 4-7 15; Aaryon Williams 4-9 6-6 14; Lionel Coleman
4-7 0-0 10; Ryan Gonzales 3-7 2-3 10; Billy Austin 5-14 0-0 10; Aaron
Shepard 2-5 4-5 8; Mike Moody 4-6 0-3 8; Augustus French 0-0 0-0 0; Derek
Freeman 0-0 0-0 0; Micah Shepard 0-3 0-0 0. Totals 27-63 16-24 75.
WESTERN NEW MEXICO (6-11, 6-7 RMAC)
TJ Riley (Tyler, TX/Chapel Hill High School) 8-15 6-6 24; Chad Carter (Tucson, AZ/Ironwood Ridge High School) 6-10 5-8 19; Chris Mason (Phoenix, AZ/St. Mary's High School) 5-8 3-8 14; Juan
Suarez 2-8 7-11 11; Merle Branch (Sierra Vista, AZ/Buena High School) 4-5 0-3 8; Brelan Berry (Chandler, AZ/Basha High School) 3-5 1-2 7; Lucio
Luttrell 2-6 1-2 7; Everett Duis (El Paso, TX/El Dorado High School) 1-2 0-0 3; Edward Estavillo (Willcox, AZ/Willcox High School) 0-0 0-0 0; Ryan
Crane 0-1 0-0 0; Daryl Littleton (Tucson, AZ/Palo Verde High School) 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 31-61 23-40 93.
New Mexico Highlands..........   36   39  -   75
Western New Mexico............   47   46  -   93
3-point goals--New Mexico Highlands 5-21 (Ryan Gonzales 2-5; Lionel Coleman
2-3; Momcilo Latinovic 1-5; Mike Moody 0-1; Micah Shepard 0-2; Billy Austin
0-4; Aaryon Williams 0-1), Western New Mexico 8-16 (Lucio Luttrell (Las Cruces, NM/Las Cruces High School) 2-2; Chad
Carter 2-5; TJ Riley (Tyler, TX/Chapel Hill High School) 2-4; Everett Duis (El Paso, TX/El Dorado High School) 1-2; Chris Mason (Phoenix, AZ/St. Mary's High School) 1-2; Ryan Crane (Anthem, AZ/Boulder Creek High School)
0-1). Fouled out--New Mexico Highlands-None, Western New Mexico-None.
Rebounds--New Mexico Highlands 41 (Mike Moody 8), Western New Mexico 35
(Chad Carter (Tucson, AZ/Ironwood Ridge High School) 9). Assists--New Mexico Highlands 13 (Billy Austin 5), Western
New Mexico 13 (TJ Riley (Tyler, TX/Chapel Hill High School) 4). Total fouls--New Mexico Highlands 25, Western
New Mexico 19. Technical fouls--New Mexico Highlands-Derek Freeman 2; Micah
Shepard; Aaryon Williams, Western New Mexico-TJ Riley (Tyler, TX/Chapel Hill High School). A-2004
Derek Freeman ejected with 11:29 left in second half.