Box Score SILVER CITY, N.M. – On senior night, TJ Riley (Tyler, TX/Chapel Hill High School) took center stage, along with Chad Carter (Tucson, AZ/Ironwood Ridge High School) they combined for 38 points to lead the Western New Mexico University men's basketball team past Regis University, 74-58, Saturday night in Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference action inside Drag's Court.


Carter and Riley came out of the gates ready, with Carter hitting the first three points, which Riley followed with a layup and tip-in to give WNMU (9-16, 9-12 RMAC) a 7-3 lead. Carter added a jumper on the next WNMU trip down the court before someone other than the duo hit a shot with Ryan Crane (Anthem, AZ/Boulder Creek High School) delivering a three-pointer for a 12-7 lead at the 13:17 mark.


The lead would get as high as 11 in the first half on a jumper by Carter midway through the first half for a 23-12 lead.


RU (5-20, 2-19 RMAC) came back, cutting the lead to three thanks to a 10-2 run. WNMU regrouped to outscore the Rangers by five over the remainder of the half to take a 34-26 lead into the locker room.


The Rangers still had one run left in them, as they got back to within three, 49-46, at the 9:50 mark, but the Mustangs had another answer to put the game out of reach.


Juan Suarez (Nogales, AZ/Nogales High School) started the rally with a strong drive to the hoop and drew a foul. He followed that by hitting both foul shots to push the lead back to six.


After RU came back to cut the WNMU lead back to six at 54-48, WNMU put the game out of reach for good with a 8-1 run. Chris Mason (Phoenix, AZ/St. Mary's High School) started the run with a layup in traffic, which Riley followed by hitting a foul shot. Suarez then drilled a top-of-the-key three to move the lead to 11. Daryl Littleton (Tucson, AZ/Palo Verde High School) added a layup at the 5:33 mark to make it a 62-49 lead.


The lead would get as high as 17 a few minutes later on a three by Carter, which would be the largest lead of the night.


Riley and Carter tied for the game-high in points with 19, with Carter leading the team in rebounds with seven. Ryan Crane (Anthem, AZ/Boulder Creek High School) added eight, followed by seven each from Lucio Luttrell (Las Cruces, NM/Las Cruces High School) and Suarez.


WNMU shot nearly 54 percent (28-52) from the field to holding Regis to a 40.8 effort (20-49).


Riley was honored before the game, as he was the lone senior on the Mustang squad.


WNMU will close out the 2011-12 season at New Mexico Highlands next Saturday with tipoff set for 8 p.m.



Regis University vs Western New Mexico
02/18/12 7:40 pm at Silver City, NM (Drag's Court)
At Silver City, NM (Drag's Court)
WESTERN NEW MEXICO 74, REGIS UNIVERSITY 58
REGIS UNIVERSITY (5-20, 2-19 RMAC)
Demitrius Owens 5-9 5-6 16; Dionte Goodlett 4-9 3-5 13; Chris Johansen 5-8
2-4 12; Breen Weeks 3-11 0-1 8; Jon Conley 2-7 0-0 4; Lance Korell 0-4 2-2
2; Dylan King 1-1 0-0 2; Myron Sanders 0-0 1-2 1; Slobodan Jovanovic 0-0 0-0
0; Greg Lee 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 20-49 13-20 58.
WESTERN NEW MEXICO (9-16, 9-12 RMAC)
Chad Carter (Tucson, AZ/Ironwood Ridge High School) 8-14 1-1 19; TJ Riley (Tyler, TX/Chapel Hill High School) 6-14 7-10 19; Ryan Crane (Anthem, AZ/Boulder Creek High School) 3-5 0-0 8; Juan
Suarez 2-3 2-2 7; Lucio Luttrell (Las Cruces, NM/Las Cruces High School) 3-4 1-1 7; Brelan Berry (Chandler, AZ/Basha High School) 1-2 2-2 4; Daryl
Littleton 2-3 0-0 4; Chris Mason (Phoenix, AZ/St. Mary's High School) 2-4 0-2 4; Merle Branch (Sierra Vista, AZ/Buena High School) 1-2 0-0 2; Everett
Duis 0-1 0-0 0; Edward Estavillo (Willcox, AZ/Willcox High School) 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 28-52 13-18 74.
Regis University..............   26   32  -   58
Western New Mexico............   34   40  -   74
3-point goals--Regis University 5-14 (Breen Weeks 2-6; Dionte Goodlett 2-3;
Demitrius Owens 1-1; Lance Korell 0-3; Chris Johansen 0-1), Western New
Mexico 5-11 (Chad Carter (Tucson, AZ/Ironwood Ridge High School) 2-2; Ryan Crane (Anthem, AZ/Boulder Creek High School) 2-3; Juan Suarez (Nogales, AZ/Nogales High School) 1-2; Chris Mason (Phoenix, AZ/St. Mary's High School)
0-1; TJ Riley (Tyler, TX/Chapel Hill High School) 0-3). Fouled out--Regis University-None, Western New
Mexico-Lucio Luttrell (Las Cruces, NM/Las Cruces High School). Rebounds--Regis University 28 (Breen Weeks 6),
Western New Mexico 30 (Chad Carter (Tucson, AZ/Ironwood Ridge High School) 7). Assists--Regis University 14 (Dionte
Goodlett 3), Western New Mexico 15 (Juan Suarez (Nogales, AZ/Nogales High School) 6). Total fouls--Regis
University 16, Western New Mexico 20. Technical fouls--Regis
University-None, Western New Mexico-None. A-986