Box Score SILVER CITY, N.M. – UC-Colorado Springs hit on over 60 percent from the field in the first half and held the momentum in the second stanza as they defeated the Western New Mexico University men's basketball team, 81-61, Friday night in Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference action.


"UCCS is a good team, they have a couple of guys that are tough matchups for us. The big thing is they beat us from one man all the way to about eight or nine on their bench and that's no offense to us were just not that deep to absorb that," first-year head coach Jeff Law said. "I thought we played hard and we didn't have a lot of opportunities to get things done. Couple of guys played their normal games and I thought Steven Loucks (Yuma, AZ/Cibola) stepped up and played real strong."


The game started fast for WNMU (1-16, 1-13 RMAC) as an early technical foul for hanging on the rim during warm-ups on UCCS (12-6, 9-5 RMAC) gave the Mustangs a pair of foul shots that senior guard Edward Estavillo (Wilcox, AZ/Wilcox) connected on. The solid start didn't end there as sophomore guard Adam Kesler (Silver City, NM/Silver) added a pair from the line and a jumper by freshman forward Steven Loucks (Yuma, AZ/Cibola) had the Mustangs holding a 6-0 lead a minute in.


The lead would stretch to nine a few minutes later when junior point guard Terrez Scott (Santa Clarita, CA/Valencia) connected on a three for the 11-2 lead. The Mountain Lions would come right back with a 9-0 run to tie the game at 11 with 15:24 to play in the opening stanza.


Loucks helped keep the Mustangs in the lead as his three on the next trip down the floor pushed WNMU back in front, 14-11. After UCCS would come back to take a two-point lead a pair of times over the next several minutes, a dunk by Loucks helped tie the game for the last time at 18 near the midway point of the half.


UCCS countered with a 25-8 run over the next six-plus minutes to open a 43-26 lead. The Mustangs would fight back, cutting the lead back down to nine after Scott converted a three-point-play. UCCS would close the scoring with a three by Tim Billingsley to take a 48-36 lead into the locker rooms.


Junior forward Marcos Castrillo (San Francisco, CA/Pinole Valley) opened the second half with a three-point-play a minute in to help pull WNMU back to within nine. Each time WNMU came close, UCCS had too much firepower as Derrick White took over scoring four straight points after a Billingsley jumper to go back in front by 15.


Scott led the way for the Mustangs going for 19 points, he also had five assists, six rebounds and two steals in 36 minutes. Castrillo added 16 points and a team-high nine rebounds, while Loucks posted 12 points, two blocks and a steal. White led UCCS and all-scorers going for 24 points.


WNMU shot just over 38 percent (21-55), while UCCS hit on over 48 percent (27-56). Three-pointers favored UCCS (8-5), as well as free throws (19-14).


WNMU will host CSU-Pueblo Saturday night at 7:30 p.m. The ThunderWolves defeated New Mexico Highlands, 99-81, earlier tonight.