Box Score SILVER CITY, N.M. – The Western New Mexico University men's basketball team came through with some clutch plays down the stretch to defeat a pesky Colorado Christian University squad, 72-63, Saturday night in Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference action inside Drag's Court.


The game appeared to be heading the way of the Mustangs midway through the second half. Leading 45-35 with 11:39 to play, Colorado Christian University (CCU) began to chip away. They would trim the deficit down to three at 47-44 with 7:57 to play and after Western New Mexico University (WNMU) again got up by nine on a jumper in the paint by Brelan Berry (Chandler, AZ/Basha High School), CCU (5-5, 0-2 RMAC) came back to within three at 55-52 when WNMU (3-3, 2-0 RMAC) came through with several clutch shots.


First, Merle Branch (Sierra Vista, AZ/Buena High School) attacked the paint and floated a shot over a pair of defenders to push the advantage to five. Chad Carter (Tucson, AZ/Ironwood Ridge High School) then took over, as the Mustangs held on defense and after passing the ball around, Branch found Carter who delivered a three for a 60-52 lead with 3:17 to play. After CCU turned the ball over, Carter again got loose on the wing and delivered a three to lift the crowd into a frenzy and open the lead to 11, 63-52, with 2:40 to play. Berry helped cap the 10-0 run with a layup off an offensive rebound for the 65-52 lead with 1:38 to play. The Mustangs continued with the momentum for the win down the stretch.


Early on, CCU started strong scoring the first five points of the game a minute in. WNMU came back with their own 5-0 run with Juan Suarez (Nogales, AZ/Nogales High School) drilling a three and Berry a layup to tie the game at five nearly three minutes in.


Trailing 7-5, WNMU went on a 10-0 run over the next three minutes to take an eight-point lead, 15-7. During the run, Lucio Luttrell (Las Cruces, NM/Las Cruces High School) came through with six points, with three coming on a trey and the other a three the old fashioned way. A Carter three and a Branch free throw accounted for the other points.


WNMU would push the lead into double-digits toward the end of the first half with Daryl Littleton (Tucson, AZ/Palo Verde High School) hitting a free throw and a jumper from Suarez for the 27-15 lead at the 4:42 mark.


The Cougars would trim the deficit to seven before halftime leaving the Mustangs ahead, 31-24, at the break.


CCU would get within five early in the second half when WNMU would continued to answer thanks to a quick 4-0 run behind a layup from Branch and dunk from Carter to push the lead back to nine, 35-26, two minutes into the second stanza. WNMU would push the lead into double-digits over the next few minutes before the exciting finish of the second half took place.


Carter tallied 19 points to lead WNMU, while he also had four rebounds and four blocks. Suarez posted 15 points, along with five assists and two steals. Berry also found his way into double-digits with 10 points and six rebounds.


WNMU shot 44 percent (22-50) from the field, while holding CCU to a 29.3 percent (17-58) effort. Each team made six free throws, while CCU held a slight edge in free throws (23-22).


The game featured 48 combined fouls, 25 for CCU and 23 for WNMU.


Kyle Weaver's 21 points led CCU and all-scorers.


WNMU will look to continue their winning ways when they hit the road next week beginning Friday night in Grand Junction, Colo., against Colorado Mesa with game time set for 7:30 p.m.
 
WESTERN NEW MEXICO 72, COLORADO CHRISTIAN 63
COLORADO CHRISTIAN (5-5, 0-2 RMAC)
Kyle Weaver 4-15 12-12 21; Michael Brown 4-10 4-5 14; Joey Trinkle 3-6 2-4
8; Josh McBeth 2-5 2-2 8; Michael Stamer 1-5 1-2 3; Austin Wenger 1-3 0-0 3;
Stephen Dennis 1-2 0-0 2; Wayne McCullough 1-4 0-0 2; Lance Vesper 0-7 2-2
2; Dylan Crist 0-0 0-0 0; Avery Redmond 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 17-58 23-27 63.
WESTERN NEW MEXICO (3-3, 2-0 RMAC)
Chad Carter (Tucson, AZ/Ironwood Ridge High School) 6-14 4-6 19; Juan Suarez (Nogales, AZ/Nogales High School) 4-6 6-8 15; Brelan Berry (Chandler, AZ/Basha High School) 4-5 2-3 10;
Merle Branch (Sierra Vista, AZ/Buena High School) 3-5 3-4 9; Lucio Luttrell (Las Cruces, NM/Las Cruces High School) 2-8 1-3 6; Daryl Littleton (Tucson, AZ/Palo Verde High School) 2-3 1-2 5;
Andy Sohlich (Battle Creek, MI/St. Phillip Catholic Central High School) 1-5 2-2 5; Ryan Crane (Anthem, AZ/Boulder Creek High School) 0-3 3-4 3; Nate Murdock (Phoenix, AZ/Pinnacle High School) 0-0 0-0 0; Edward
Estavillo 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 22-50 22-32 72.
Colorado Christian............   24   39  -   63
Western New Mexico............   31   41  -   72
3-point goals--Colorado Christian 6-21 (Josh McBeth 2-3; Michael Brown 2-6;
Austin Wenger 1-3; Kyle Weaver 1-4; Wayne McCullough 0-2; Lance Vesper 0-1;
Avery Redmond 0-1; Stephen Dennis 0-1), Western New Mexico 6-15 (Chad Carter (Tucson, AZ/Ironwood Ridge High School)
3-4; Andy Sohlich (Battle Creek, MI/St. Phillip Catholic Central High School) 1-4; Juan Suarez (Nogales, AZ/Nogales High School) 1-2; Lucio Luttrell (Las Cruces, NM/Las Cruces High School) 1-3; Ryan Crane (Anthem, AZ/Boulder Creek High School) 0-1;
Edward Estavillo (Wilcox, AZ/Wilcox) 0-1). Fouled out--Colorado Christian-None, Western New
Mexico-None. Rebounds--Colorado Christian 41 (Michael Stamer 11), Western
New Mexico 33 (Lucio Luttrell (Las Cruces, NM/Las Cruces High School) 6; Brelan Berry (Chandler, AZ/Basha High School) 6). Assists--Colorado
Christian 9 (Kyle Weaver 4), Western New Mexico 12 (Juan Suarez (Nogales, AZ/Nogales High School) 5). Total
fouls--Colorado Christian 25, Western New Mexico 23. Technical
fouls--Colorado Christian-None, Western New Mexico-None. A-875