Box Score LAKEWOOD, Colo. – The Western New Mexico University men's basketball team held a halftime lead and led by four early in the second half before Colorado Christian University stormed back and prevented a late Mustang rally to come away with the 78-66 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference victory over the Mustangs Friday night.


Western New Mexico University (WNMU) came out ready to play, jumping to a 7-0 lead with Lucio Luttrell (Las Cruces, NM/Las Cruces High School) accounting for four, along with a jumper by Daryl Littleton (Tucson, AZ/Palo Verde High School) and an early free throw by Juan Suarez (Nogales, AZ/Nogales High School).


Andy Sohlich (Battle Creek, MI/St. Phillip Catholic Central High School) helped keep WNMU (10-14, 9-11 RMAC) ahead by five with a three at the 12:36 mark, 16-11.


Colorado Christian University (CCU) answered back with a 6-0 run to take a one-point lead, 17-16.


The teams would tie or trade the lead until the Mustangs jumped the advantage back to five, 30-25, on another deep ball from Sohlich at the 4:25 mark.


CCU (13-15, 8-12 RMAC) would go on a 5-0 run to tie the game at 30 before Nate Murdock (Phoenix, AZ/Pinnacle High School) gave WNMU a halftime lead on a jumper with 29 seconds to go for the 32-30 advantage.


The lead would reach four on a jumper by Luttrell to start the second stanza.


After Chad Carter (Tucson, AZ/Ironwood Ridge High School) connected on a jumper for the 36-33 advantage, the Cougars unleashed a 13-0 run to take a 46-36 lead.


Down by 11, 49-38, at the 11:58 mark, WNMU began to make their comeback.


Carter started it with another jumper inside the paint. Brelan Berry (Chandler, AZ/Basha High School) than got loose for a pair of layups, in front of a layup from Luttrell and finally a layup by Carter had WNMU within one, 49-48, thanks to a 10-0 run.


That would turn out to be as close as the Mustangs would get, as CCU came back with a 7-0 run over the next two minutes to push the lead back to 56-48 with eight minutes to play.


WNMU would get as close as four after Carter hit a layup and Luttrell connected on two from the foul line to make it 56-52, but a 5-0 Cougar run helped power CCU to the win.


Carter led WNMU going for 20 points, along with eight rebounds. Sohlich added 16 points, connecting on 4 three-pointers, while Luttrell also found his way to double-figures with 12.


Kyle Weaver led CCU and all scorers going for 24.


WNMU shot well from the field, making 54.2 percent (26-48), while CCU hit at 40.4 percent (23-57). CCU held a big advantage in three-pointers (11-4) and free throws (21-10). CCU also held the advantage in rebounds (38-27) and turnovers (15-22).


WNMU will play at Colorado School of Mines Saturday night with tip set for 7 p.m. Colorado Mines defeated New Mexico Highlands, 90-74, Friday night.