Skip To Main Content
Skip To Main Content

Western New Mexico University Athletics

Western New Mexico University Athletics
CJ Vanbeekum
Jay Hemphill, WNMU
83
Western N.M. WNMU 3-16 (0-10)
123
Winner UT Permian Basin UTPB 17-2 (9-1)
Western N.M. WNMU
3-16 (0-10)
83
Final
123
UT Permian Basin UTPB
17-2 (9-1)
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
Western N.M. WNMU 40 43 83
UT Permian Basin UTPB 64 59 123

Game Recap: Men's Basketball | | Brian Kortz

Vanbeekum Scores Career-High 25 Points Against High-Flying Falcons

ODESSA, Texas – Sophomore CJ Vanbeekum (Phoenix, AZ/Paradise) was on fire Thursday night as he scored a career-high 25 points to lead all-scorers. While Vanbeekum led five Mustangs in double-figures, No. 9 UT Permian Basin put up 123 points to claim the 123-83 victory over the Western New Mexico University men's basketball team in Lone Star Conference action.

Vanbeekum did all he could to keep up with the nationally-ranked Falcons as he went 8-14 from the field, 5-10 from three and 4-4 from the charity stripe for his career-high 25 points. He breaks his previous high of 18 points from last year. He also grabbed three rebounds and tallied two steals. Junior Haneef Vaughn-Wilson (Philadelphia, PA/Constitution) added 16 points and a team-high four assists, junior Willie McCray (Clovis, NM/Clovis/Westwind Prep Academy) scored 14 points and four steals, sophomore Alex Gonzalez-Alvarez tied his career-high with 13 points on 3-5 shooting from three and junior Jon-Reese Woodson (Corpus Christi, TX/Carroll) poured in 11 points and four rebounds. WNMU ended up shooting pretty well from the field making 28-69 (41), 9-27 (33) from three and 18-27 (67) from the foul line.

The nationally-ranked Falcons were just too much, especially from long range. UTPB sunk 18-36 (50) from three to set a new high in the conference this season for three-pointers made in a game. If that wasn't enough, they went 45-73 (62) from the field and added a 15-24 (63) effort from the charity stripe. James McPherson and Daeshon Francis each scored 22 points, with Francis going for a triple-double with 10 rebounds and 10 assists. McPherson went 8-16 from the field and Francis went 9-12.

UTPB (17-2, 9-1 LSC) opened the game on a 9-0 run over the first two minutes to force an early WNMU (3-16, 0-10 LSC) timeout. Out of the break, the Mustangs got things going as Vanbeekum started his big night drilling a three-pointer at the 17:48 mark. Junior Davis Wade (Jackson, MS/Will C Wood) later added a jumper to keep the deficit at six.

After the Falcons quickly had the lead into double-digits, Woodson and Vaughn-Wilson hit a couple jumpers in the paint to leave UTPB ahead by seven. Gonzalez-Alvarez drilled back-to-back three-pointers near the midway point of the half to cut the lead back to seven at 24-17.

Vaughn-Wilson and McCray hit a pair of jumpers in the paint a few minutes later to keep the lead at nine for the Falcons before they outscored the Mustangs by 15 the remainder of the half for a 64-40 lead at the break.

An 8-0 run early in the second half had the Mustangs with some momentum. Vaughn-Wilson got the run going when he converted a three-point-play. Vanbeekum then dialed long distance and after two from the line by Vaughn-Wilson, UTPB had a 68-51 lead.

That ended up being as close as the Mustangs would get the rest of the way as following a three-pointer by Vanbeekum at the 15:59 mark to cut the deficit back to 18, UTPB ripped off a 15-2 run over the next two minutes to boost the lead to 87-56 and never looked back.

WNMU kept things close on bench points with UTPB holding the slight 44-43 advantage. UTPB also led in points off turnovers (26-15), second-chance points (18-6), points in the paint (47-26) and fastbreak points (15-5).

It won't get any easier for the Mustangs Saturday when they will travel to Canyon, Texas to face No. 11 West Texas A&M starting at 4 p.m. Central Time. The Buffs rolled past Eastern New Mexico 82-63 earlier tonight as they have now won 10 of their last 11 games.
 
Print Friendly Version