Box Score DURANGO, Colo. – The Western New Mexico University men's basketball team held a four-point lead in the first half and stayed close with Fort Lewis College throughout the first half, but a run midway through the second half by the Skyhawks tilted the game in their favor as they came away with the 68-54  win in Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference action Friday night inside Whalen Gym.


WNMU (8-12, 8-8 RMAC) opened a four-point lead, 6-2, over three minutes in following a layup by Lucio Luttrell (Las Cruces, NM/Las Cruces High School).


The Mustangs would hold the lead at 11-10 before FLC (10-9, 8-7 RMAC) tallied a jumper from Andre Marquez at the 11:31 mark to take a 12-11 lead.


The lead wouldn't get higher than four over the next several minutes before WNMU fought back in front with under four minutes before halftime on a layup off the fastbreak by Juan Suarez (Nogales, AZ/Nogales High School) and then Chad Carter (Tucson, AZ/Ironwood Ridge High School) hit one of two from the line for a 21-19 lead.


A three from Luttrell with 1:35 before halftime would give WNMU their last lead (24-23) of the night as FLC closed the half on a 5-0 run to take a 28-24 lead into the locker room.


Although the Mustangs wouldn't come back to take the lead, they fought back on many occasions in the second half.


Still down a few points through the first five-plus minutes, a Carter three at the 14:47 mark tied the game at 33 and later a free throw from Merle Branch (Sierra Vista, AZ/Buena High School) cut the deficit to one, 35-34, with 14 minutes to play.


That would be when the Skyhawks would take off, tallying a layup to go up three, then a pair of free throws from Matt Morris boosted the lead to five. The 11-0 run continued with a jumper, a three-pointer and a layup for a 46-34 lead near the midway point of the second stanza.


The Mustangs answered that run with a 5-0 run themselves with Chris Mason (Phoenix, AZ/St. Mary's High School) hitting a free throw, a layup off the fastbreak by Daryl Littleton (Tucson, AZ/Palo Verde High School) and then a dunk off another fastbreak run by Carter left FLC ahead 46-39 with nine minutes to play.


Just like earlier, FLC came away with a big run when they needed it, as they answered the WNMU run with a 5-0 run of their own to push the lead back to 12 with under seven minutes to play and would hold on the rest of the way.


WNMU was led by TJ Riley (Tyler, TX/Chapel Hill High School)'s 16 points, while Carter (13) and Luttrell (10) also found their way into double-figures. Branch led the team in rebounds with eight. WNMU forced 23 Skyhawk turnovers to just 10 themselves, but shot just 29 percent (20-69), while FLC made just under 42 percent (20-48). FLC also lived at the foul line, making 21-of-25 to 7-of-15 from WNMU.


FLC received a strong effort from Morris who tallied another double-double with 18 points and 14 rebounds.


WNMU will continue the road swing as they will play at Adams State College Saturday night with tipoff set for 8 p.m. inside Plachy Hall in Alamosa.

Western New Mexico vs Fort Lewis
2/3/12 7:30 p.m. at Durango, Colo. (Whalen Gymnasium)
At Durango, Colo. (Whalen Gymnasium)
FORT LEWIS 68, WESTERN NEW MEXICO 54
WESTERN NEW MEXICO (8-12, 8-8 RMAC)
TJ Riley (Tyler, TX/Chapel Hill High School) 5-13 4-4 16; Chad Carter (Tucson, AZ/Ironwood Ridge High School) 5-19 1-2 13; Lucio Luttrell (Las Cruces, NM/Las Cruces High School) 4-7 0-4 10;
Juan Suarez (Nogales, AZ/Nogales High School) 2-8 0-0 5; Daryl Littleton (Tucson, AZ/Palo Verde High School) 2-2 0-0 4; Chris Mason (Phoenix, AZ/St. Mary's High School) 1-8 1-2 3;
Merle Branch (Sierra Vista, AZ/Buena High School) 1-6 1-3 3; Everett Duis (El Paso, TX/El Dorado High School) 0-1 0-0 0; Brelan Berry (Chandler, AZ/Basha High School) 0-4 0-0 0;
Edward Estavillo (Willcox, AZ/Willcox High School) 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 20-69 7-15 54.
FORT LEWIS (10-9, 8-7 RMAC)
Matt Morris 5-8 8-9 18; Marcus Ayala 3-7 5-6 13; Andre Marquez 5-7 1-2 11;
Mike Matthews 3-7 0-0 9; Matt Billups 1-7 5-5 7; Torrey Udall 1-4 2-2 4;
Matthew Mazarei 1-3 0-0 3; Matthias Weissl 1-5 0-0 3; Alex Herrera 0-0 0-0
0; Josh Cassaday 0-0 0-0 0; Louie LaBate 0-0 0-1 0. Totals 20-48 21-25 68.
Western New Mexico............   24   30  -   54
Fort Lewis....................   28   40  -   68
3-point goals--Western New Mexico 7-23 (Chad Carter (Tucson, AZ/Ironwood Ridge High School) 2-6; Lucio Luttrell (Las Cruces, NM/Las Cruces High School) 2-3;
TJ Riley (Tyler, TX/Chapel Hill High School) 2-6; Juan Suarez (Nogales, AZ/Nogales High School) 1-2; Everett Duis (El Paso, TX/El Dorado High School) 0-1; Edward Estavillo (Willcox, AZ/Willcox High School) 0-1; Chris
Mason 0-4), Fort Lewis 7-21 (Mike Matthews 3-6; Marcus Ayala 2-5; Matthew
Mazarei 1-2; Matthias Weissl 1-5; Matt Billups 0-2; Matt Morris 0-1). Fouled
out--Western New Mexico-Merle Branch (Sierra Vista, AZ/Buena High School), Fort Lewis-None. Rebounds--Western New
Mexico 35 (Merle Branch (Sierra Vista, AZ/Buena High School) 8), Fort Lewis 48 (Matt Morris 14). Assists--Western
New Mexico 9 (Juan Suarez (Nogales, AZ/Nogales High School) 4), Fort Lewis 16 (Matt Morris 3; Matt Billups 3).
Total fouls--Western New Mexico 22, Fort Lewis 16. Technical fouls--Western
New Mexico-None, Fort Lewis-None. A-690