Box Score SILVER CITY, N.M. – Behind the hot hand of Andy Sohlich (Battle Creek, MI/St. Phillip Catholic Central High School), the Western New Mexico University men's basketball team blew past CSU-Pueblo late in the second half on their way to the 99-87 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference victory inside Drag's Court.


With Western New Mexico University (WNMU) ahead by just two with eight minutes to go in the second half, Sohlich began to come through big time.


He got loose for a three a few seconds later to push the lead to five, 72-67. After CSU-Pueblo (CSU-P) tallied a basket, Sohlich again got open for another deep ball and the lead went to 10, 77-67, with 5:50 to play. Sohlich wasn't done, as following a missed jumper by CSU-P (2-9, 1-4 RMAC), WNMU (4-5, 3-2 RMAC) pushed the ball and found Sohlich for another three from downtown to extend the lead to 13, 80-67, with 4:50 to go.


Sohlich continued his own run, tallying a steal and transition layup on the ensuing possession and then he hit a pair from the line to give WNMU a 17-point lead, 84-67, and one they would hold on to for the victory.


CSU-P started the game strong, racing out to an 11-3 lead five minutes into the first half. Sohlich would start his career-high 35-point night with a three-point play the hard way at the 12:56 mark to bring WNMU within four, 15-11.


The ThunderWolves continued to lead, however, holding a lead of nine, 20-11, near the midway point of the half. Sohlich then found his stroke, draining a pair of three's to bring WNMU within three, 20-17. Sohlich continued with the hot shooting, connecting on a layup and then a jumper down the baseline to leave CSU-P ahead by just one, 22-21, with eight minutes to go before halftime.


Daryl Littleton (Tucson, AZ/Palo Verde High School) gave the Mustangs their first lead a minute later on a jumper in the paint, 23-22.


After CSU-P pushed the lead back to five, 34-29, with 3:49 to play, Juan Suarez (Nogales, AZ/Nogales High School) found the touch from outside and later Chad Arechiga (Tucson, AZ/Ironwood Ridge) came through with two big three-pointers on consecutive trips down the floor to make it a 38-34 lead with 2:30 to go.
The ThunderWolves closed the half strong, trimming the deficit to one, 41-40, heading into the break.
The start of the second half swayed back-and-forth, with the teams trading leads over the first eight minutes when WNMU began to open up a lead.


Sohlich canned a three at the 12:12 mark and again at the 11:40 mark to push the lead to six, 63-57, with 11:40 to play.


The ThunderWolves would get back to within two later when Sohlich began to take over and push the Mustangs to the victory.


Sohlich went 11-for-15 from the field, including a 6-for-10 effort from three-point range and a 7-for-8 effort from the line for his 35 points. The scoring night ranks in a tie for fourth-best in Mustang history (since 1999-2000) which tied Joey Ramirez's 35 against BYU-Hawaii in 2002.


Carter and Suarez were also in double-figures with 14 and 13, respectively. Lucio Luttrell (Las Cruces, NM/Las Cruces High School) added nine, while Ryan Crane (Anthem, AZ/Boulder Creek High School) led the team in rebounds with seven. Merle Branch (Sierra Vista, AZ/Buena High School) dished out a team-high six assists.


Both teams shot well from the field with WNMU hitting 48.2 percent (27-56), including a 14-for-29 effort (48.3) from downtown. They also went 31-of-38 (81.6) from the free throw line. CSU-P made 31-of-69 (44.9), 11-for-31 from three (35.5) and 14-for-21 (66.7) from the charity stripe.


Ryan Arel led CSU-P with 22 points.


WNMU will turn around and host the University of Colorado-Colorado Springs Saturday night with game time set for 7:30 p.m. inside Drag's Court.
 
WESTERN NEW MEXICO 99, CSU-PUEBLO 87
CSU-PUEBLO (2-9, 1-4 RMAC)
Ryan Arel 6-8 6-7 22; Arden Dennis 5-17 4-4 16; Nathan Tigner 7-8 0-4 16;
J.J. Mina 6-14 0-0 14; Tyrell Williams 2-6 2-2 7; Matt Rosenbaum 2-6 2-4 6;
Jed Knafelc 2-5 0-0 4; Derick Agbaroji 1-1 0-0 2; Bryse Velasquez 0-2 0-0 0;
Wendell Lee 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 31-69 14-21 87.
WESTERN NEW MEXICO (4-5, 3-2 RMAC)
Andy Sohlich (Battle Creek, MI/St. Phillip Catholic Central High School) 11-15 7-8 35; Chad Carter (Tucson, AZ/Ironwood Ridge High School) 3-12 6-6 14; Juan Suarez (Nogales, AZ/Nogales High School) 4-8 2-4 13;
Lucio Luttrell (Las Cruces, NM/Las Cruces High School) 3-6 3-4 9; Merle Branch (Sierra Vista, AZ/Buena High School) 1-5 5-6 7; Chad Arechiga (Tucson, AZ/Ironwood Ridge) 2-3 0-0 6;
Nate Murdock (Phoenix, AZ/Pinnacle High School) 1-2 2-4 4; Daryl Littleton (Tucson, AZ/Palo Verde High School) 1-3 2-2 4; Brelan Berry (Chandler, AZ/Basha High School) 0-0 4-4 4;
Ryan Crane (Anthem, AZ/Boulder Creek High School) 1-2 0-0 3. Totals 27-56 31-38 99.
CSU-Pueblo....................   40   47  -   87
Western New Mexico............   41   58  -   99
3-point goals--CSU-Pueblo 11-31 (Ryan Arel 4-6; Arden Dennis 2-9; J.J. Mina
2-6; Nathan Tigner 2-2; Tyrell Williams 1-3; Wendell Lee 0-2; Jed Knafelc
0-2; Matt Rosenbaum 0-1), Western New Mexico 14-29 (Andy Sohlich (Battle Creek, MI/St. Phillip Catholic Central High School) 6-10; Juan
Suarez 3-6; Chad Arechiga (Tucson, AZ/Ironwood Ridge) 2-3; Chad Carter (Tucson, AZ/Ironwood Ridge High School) 2-5; Ryan Crane (Anthem, AZ/Boulder Creek High School) 1-2; Nate Murdock (Phoenix, AZ/Pinnacle High School)
0-1; Merle Branch (Sierra Vista, AZ/Buena High School) 0-1; Lucio Luttrell (Las Cruces, NM/Las Cruces High School) 0-1). Fouled out--CSU-Pueblo-Ryan
Arel; Matt Rosenbaum, Western New Mexico-None. Rebounds--CSU-Pueblo 35
(Tyrell Williams 6; J.J. Mina 6), Western New Mexico 38 (Ryan Crane (Anthem, AZ/Boulder Creek High School) 7).
Assists--CSU-Pueblo 14 (Nathan Tigner 5), Western New Mexico 19 (Merle
Branch 6). Total fouls--CSU-Pueblo 28, Western New Mexico 18. Technical
fouls--CSU-Pueblo-None, Western New Mexico-None. A-635