LAS VEGAS, N.M. – The Western New Mexico University men's basketball team tallied five three-pointers in the opening half and led by as many as 10 before New Mexico Highlands University stormed back with a 55-point second half outburst to take the 92-69 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference victory Saturday afternoon.

WNMU (2-15, 2-11 RMAC) jumped out to a quick 10-3 lead just three minutes in. Marcos Castrillo (San Francisco, CA/Pinole Valley) tallied the first four points leading to a pair of threes by Gavin Wood (Florence, AZ/Florence ). Terrez Scott (Santa Clarita, CA/Valencia) helped push the lead to 10 at 23-13 with a layup in transition near the midway point of the half.

With still nine minutes to go before the break, Adam Kesler (Silver City, NM/Silver) drilled a triple to push the lead back to double-digits at 26-16. The Mustangs would get the lead back to 10 one last time with six minutes to go before halftime on a layup by Brandon Williams (Long Beach, CA/Los Angeles Prep) for a 30-20 advantage.

From that point on, NMHU (4-13, 4-8 RMAC) came storming back, as the Cowboys closed the half on a 17-4 run to take a 37-34 lead at halftime.

NMHU would move the lead to nine early in the second half and baskets by both Castrillo and Tyler Shea (Rancho Cucamunga, CA/Alta Loma) moved the deficit back to seven before the Cowboys expanded the lead to double-digits over the next several minutes.

Scott and Castrillo hit back-to-back three-pointers and Steven Loucks (Yuma, AZ/Cibola) later added a layup with 6:38 to play that had WNMU down by just seven, 69-62.

The Cowboys responded going on a 14-1 run over the next three-plus minutes to take the victory.

Loucks, Castrillo and Scott all scored in double-figures with Loucks and Castrillo leading the way with 16 points apiece, Scott added 12. Kendrick Nichols led NMHU with 32 points.

WNMU shot 38.8 percent (26-67) from the field, including an 8-18 effort (44.4) from three-point range. NMHU made 53.3 percent (32-60) and 11-24 (45.8) from three.
WNMU committed just eight turnovers and forced 12 NMHU turnovers, holding a 15-10 edge on points off turnovers.

WNMU will return to action on Friday night at nationally-ranked UC-Colorado Springs beginning at 5:30 p.m. They will close the week Saturday at CSU-Pueblo.