Silver City, NM - It was Senior Day at Drag's Court and for the Western New Mexico University's Men's Basketball team. The Mustangs made sure to get the win, as they defeated Cameron 69-56.

Four seniors, Jordan Doss (Chicago, Ill./Chicago Hope Academy), Ian Hohenstein (Veracruz, Mexico/Faith Christian Academy), Malik Johnson (Wytheville, Virginia/George Wythe High School), and Andrew Leonard (Tucson, AZ/Cienega HS), played their second to last game out on Drag's Court, Saturday afternoon.

Head Coach Zane  Gibson on the senior class: 

"I love this group of Seniors. They have really helped set the culture for our ball club. Andrew works his tail off every single rep in practice. Doss sets the tone physically everyday and is vocal. Malik is all about the team. Whatever we need he does. Tonight he guarded their best player all night long and he made 0 field goals in the game. Ian is the ultimate teammate. He leads the team in charges. He doesn't care about scoring, he just wants to win."

Olamide Pedersen (Bronshoj, Denmark /Sunrise Christian Academy) had a career night with a double-double. He had a career high in points, finishing with 14pts and boarded 10 rebounds. Two other Mustangs got to double-figures,  Joshuwan Johnson (Phoenix, AZ/Maricopa High School) ended the night with 16pts and Tony Avalos (Las Cruces, NM/Onate HS) ended with 10pts.

"Ola is incredibly gifted. When he's motivated, he can give us performances like he has tonight" said Gibson.

The Mustangs led for the majority of the game. Cameron did get up to a 20-15 lead but the Mustangs battled through it and went into the half leading 37-32.   

In the first half the WNMU shot 39.3% (11-28), 33.3% from three (3-9), and was 12-15 at the free throw line. 

In the second half, the Mustangs continued to get to the free throw line.. WNMU ended up shooting 39.3% (20-56), 23.8% from three (5-21), and 74.1% (20-27) from the free throw line.

WNMU's bench scored 37 points. Pedersen and J. Johnson combined for 30 of those points. The Mustangs got the ball in the paint and scored 30pts.

Cameron rebounded the ball well, having 37 compared to the Mustangs 34. Both teams had six offensive rebounds. WNMU would convert on 10 second chance points to Cameron's four points.

WNMU did a much better job handling the ball, only turning the ball over eight times compared to CU's 17. The Aggies would go on to score 8pts off of WNMU turnovers, but WNMU scored 22pts off of their turnovers. 

Both teams had about the same amount of fouls. The Aggies had 19 and the Mustangs had 20. The difference is Cameron shot 11-22 for free throws, as the Mustangs converted 20-27.

Cameron had two players in double-figures…

Kenyon Holcombe: 11pts, 10 reb, 3 blk

Brock Schreiner: 10pts, 7 reb, 1 ast, 2 stl 

PLAYERS TO HIGHLIGHT:

O. Pedersen: 14pts, (5-8 FG), 10 reb, 3 blk

J. Johnson: 16pts, 2 reb, 1 ast, 1 stl

T. Avalos: 10pts, 1 reb, 1 ast, 1 stl

Monday, February 21st, will be the last home game of the season for Mustangs, as they will play Texas A&M International at 7:00pm.

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).