Box Score SILVER CITY, N.M. – The Western New Mexico University men's basketball team once again fed off of a packed Drag's Court crowd as they rallied in the second half to defeat the University of Colorado-Colorado Springs, 72-66, Friday night in Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference action.


UCCS (7-13, 6-8 RMAC) opened a three-point lead three minutes in and it would be a tight battle throughout the first half with the teams changing leads and tying.


WNMU (7-11, 7-6 RMAC) ran off a string of points after trailing by one, they went on a 8-2 run to swing in front by five, 15-10. With the score tied at ten, Chad Carter (Tucson, AZ/Ironwood Ridge High School) connected on a deep three, which Carter followed with a layup off of his own steal to push the advantage by five.


The lead would get as high as six following a three by Lucio Luttrell (Las Cruces, NM/Las Cruces High School), but UCCS would battle back to take the lead by one, 21-20, and it would be a tussle the rest of the half.


Three more ties would occur over the next couple of minutes before the Mountain Lions posted the last five points to take a 33-29 lead into the locker room.


The Mountain Lions keep the momentum coming out of the break, pushing the lead as high as seven and the lead would hold at six, 45-39, when a key timeout helped to turn things around for WNMU.


Out of the timeout, Luttrell drilled a three off a pass from Juan Suarez (Nogales, AZ/Nogales High School) and then Luttrell came up with a steal which would lead to Merle Branch (Sierra Vista, AZ/Buena High School) scoring a layup in transition off a pass from Suarez to cut the deficit to one, 45-44.


The run continued, with TJ Riley (Tyler, TX/Chapel Hill High School) nailing a layup, which Carter followed with a free throw and then Luttrell hit another trey, this time off a fastbreak to have the Mustangs in front by five, 50-45, near the midway point of the second half. Luttrell would split a pair from the line to expand the lead to six before UCCS finally put an end to the 12-0 run at the 10:06 mark on a jumper by George Pollard.


Branch would help stretch the lead to eight at the 6:52 mark with a three off the wing to make the score 59-51.


UCCS would fight back, slowly chipping away before connecting on a pair of three-pointers to tie the game for the sixth time at 63 with 3:21 to play.


Riley then came through in the clutch, as he followed his own missed shot with a tip-in to put WNMU back in front and then Branch broke free down the line on the next trip down to convert the layup and was also fouled. He connected on the foul shot to leave WNMU ahead by five, 68-63, with 2:35 left in the game.


The lead would reach seven with Carter hitting on a stop and pop jumper in the lane and UCCS would get to within four, 70-66, with 29 seconds to play, but two free throws by Riley sealed the victory with 19 seconds left to give WNMU the big victory.


Riley and Carter combined for 43 points, with Riley tallying 22 and 11 rebounds for a double-double, as he also led the team in rebounding. Carter posted 21, going 8-for-12 from the field, with six rebounds and a season-high five blocked shots.


Branch (12) and Luttrell (11) also found their way into double-figures to round out the top scorers for the Mustangs. The Mustangs forced 23 turnovers, while turning it over 15 times.


WNMU will look to keep the momentum going as they will host CSU-Pueblo Saturday night with tipoff set for 7:30 p.m. inside Drag's Court.