Canyon, TX - The Western New Mexico University Men's Basketball team battled all afternoon against No. 5 in the nation West Texas before falling 73-70. WNMU now falls to 5-2 on the year.

Tony Avalos (Las Cruces, NM/Onate HS) and Josh Johnson lead the Mustang scores. Avalos, who is averaging 17.0 pts on the year, ended the day with 17pts. Avalos scored the first 11pts of the second half. Johnson got hot shooting the three ball, going 4-5 beyond the arc. 

The Mustangs shot 47.5% on the floor and 37.5% from the three point line. Free throws were not in the Mustangs favor, going 6-11 05 54.5%.

Amarion Cash (Phoenix, AZ/Mountain Pointe HS) led the Mustangs in rebounds, boarding 11. WNMU as a team had 36, four shy of WT's 40 rebounds.

Foul trouble continues to be an issue for the Mustangs. Thursday night the Mustangs had 29 fouls at Cameron and the fouls continued against the Buffs, having 25. 

West Texas shot 27-36 at the free throw line, more than a third of WT's points came from free throws. 

The Mustangs had 17 turnovers whereas the Buffs turned the ball over 13 times. WNMU scored 16pts off turnovers and WT scored 17pts.

The Buffs went into the half leading 29-26. For most of the half, the Mustangs were leading. WNMU was 40.7% on the field.

In the second half, West Texas got off to a hot start, but so did Avalos. WT led as much as 12pts. Avalos turned it on, scoring the halves first 11pts. Josh Johnson and Malik Johnson (Wytheville, Virginia/George Wythe High School) found a rhythm shooting the three ball, making five.

The Buffs had a tough shooting first half, shooting just 30% and 0% for 3FG. WT would finish the day shooting 36.8% and 18.2% for 3FG. WT's bench scored only 16pts.

The Buffs had five players score in the double-digits:

Larry Wise: 19pts (7-11 FG), 5 reb, 3 ast, 2 stl

Kavon Booker: 14pts 10 reb

Cameron Bell: 12pts, 2 reb, 2 ast, 5 fouls

Zach Toussaint: 10pts, 2 reb, 3 ast, 1 stl

Hayden Blankley: 10pts, 5 reb, 2 ast 2 blk, 2 stl

PLAYERS TO HIGHLIGHT:

T. Avalos: 17pts, 3 reb, 3 ast, 1 stl

J. Johnson: 14pts (4-5 3FG), 1 reb, 1 ast

M. Johnson: 10pts, 3 reb, 2 ast

A. Cash: 6pts, 11 reb, 1 blk, 2 stl

The Mustangs will come back home playing against Eastern New Mexico on Thursday, December 9th, for a 7:30pm tip-off.

This game recap is presented by First American Bank. First American Bank is a proud supporter of WNMU Athletics!  

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 Western New Mexico University is a member of the NCAA Division II, and the Lone Star Conference (LSC). For additional information regarding Mustang Athletics, visit www.wnmumustangs.com; visit wnmu.edu for more information about Western New Mexico University. Follow the Mustangs on social media: @WNMUathletics (Twitter & Instagram).