Box Score GUNNISON, Colo. – Holding a lead late in the first half, the Western New Mexico University men's basketball team went toe-to-toe with Western State Colorado University down the stretch with the teams trading leads before the Mountaineers came away with a 63-59 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference victory Saturday night.
WNMU (0-8, 0-4 RMAC) scored the first four points of the game and opened a five-point lead at the 7:52 mark on a three-pointer by
Gavin Wood (Florence, AZ/Florence ). The lead stretched to six on a jumper by
Brandon Tanter (Long Beach, CA/Los Angeles Prep) for the 23-17 lead.
The Mountaineers (2-6, 1-3 RMAC) closed the half on a 6-0 run to tie the game at 23 at the break.
WNMU led in points in the paint (10-6), fastbreak (6-0) and bench (7-0).
WSCU took a six-point lead nearly five minutes into the second half when
Terrez Scott (Santa Clarita, CA/Valencia) and
Marcos Castrillo (San Francisco, CA/Pinole Valley) combined for four points to knot the score at 39 near the midway point of the second stanza.
Castrillo pushed the Mustangs in front by a point hitting two from the line with still six minutes to play.
The Mountaineers would build a pair of five-point leads over the next few minutes when Scott came away with a steal and pass to Castrillo for a fastbreak layup leaving the deficit at three with a minute to play.
Roland Wyatt (Los Angeles, CA/Juniper Serra ) made it a two-point spread with a pair from the line with still 34 seconds to play.
WSCU would convert two at the line and after Wyatt hit a jumper in the paint with 13 seconds to play, two more foul shots by the Mountaineers put the game out of reach.
Steven Loucks (Yuma, AZ/Cibola) tried to make it a one-point game with still seconds to play, but his three was off the mark leaving WSCU with the four-point victory.
Castrillo led the way with 14 points, while Loucks collected 13 points and a double-double with 10 rebounds. Wyatt and
Brandon Tanter (Long Beach, CA/Los Angeles Prep) each chipped in eight points. Scott tallied a team-high nine assists and two steals.
Dominique Wright and Alex Eddy led WSCU with 14 points apiece.
Both teams shot under 40 percent, while WSCU took advantage of a 5-2 edge on three-pointers and 20-13 at the foul line.
WNMU led when it came to points in the paint (26-18), points off turnovers (11-2), second-chance (12-8), fastbreak (10-0) and bench (10-2).
WNMU will host CSU-Pueblo this coming Friday at 7:30 p.m.
