SILVER CITY, N.M.– The Western New Mexico University Men's Basketball team played a three overtime thriller against the Lions of Arkansas Fort Smith and former Head Coach Zane Gibson, plus staff. The Mustangs would out last the Lions 109-106 (3OT)
This puts the Mustangs at 4-18 (2-15).
Four Mustangs managed double digits on the Lions. Leading the Mustangs was
Cortaviaus Seales (Rock Island, IL/North Scott High School) with 34 points including 16-21 from the charity stripe and seven rebounds in 55 minutes of play.
Aaron Miller (Queens Village, NY/Benjamin Cardozo High School) contributed 17 points.
Tanner Vogel (Stratham, Australia/Georgiana Molloy Anglican School) and
James McCallum (Long Beach, CA./St. Bernard's High School) added 15 points each.
"Very proud of how hard we fought tonight. We got down early and had to climb back all game long, and to be able to pull out a win shows how resilient this group is," said Head Coach
Mark Bunker. "We talked about how we needed to win three separate battles tonight: win the free-throw battle, the offensive rebounding battle, and points in the paint. We won all three of those and it shows that the results will take care of itself. The crowd was awesome tonight and thank you to all of them that stuck around til the end."
Taking care of the ball would be vital to the Mustangs success. WNMU turned over UAFS 20 times, leading to 23 points.
Mustangs shot 8-30 (26%) from the field and 1-11 (9%) from deep in the first half. WNMU finished the game shooting 32-84 (38%) and 7-30 (23%) from three. UAFS would shoot 30-77 (39%) from the field and 13-37 (35%) from behind the arc for the game.
At the charity stripe WNMU went 38-51 (74%) and UAFS shot 33-42 (78%).
On the boards, McCallum secured nine rebounds and Vogel added eight. Seales dished five assists.
In the defensive department, three Mustangs recorded a steal and four Mustangs recorded a block.
The Mustangs began the first half slow, letting the Lions jump out to a 13-2 lead. UAFS would continue to grow their lead, leading by as many as 16 points.
Jordan Williams (Pensacola, FL/J. M. Tate High School) provided some good spark minutes for the Mustangs to try and claw back, but they went into the break down 44-29.
In the second half the Mustangs would trail by a consistent 8-10 points for the majority of the half. It was not until the 8-minute mark where the Mustangs really began to heat up, thanks to a Williams three, cutting the deficit to two points. UAFS tried to pull away, but free throws with eight seconds on the clock by Seales, tied things up at 74 for overtime.
For the first overtime, the Lions struck first with free throws by Roland McCoy to take an early lead. The teams traded bucked through the period, but it would Vogel as the hero. Vogel tied the game at 85 all with one second on the clock to force a second overtime.
Overtime number two had the Mustangs finding themselves down five points rather quickly. But Miller and Seales would lead the Mustangs back and tie the Lions at 92.
Nik Atanasovs (Riga, Latvia/Vidusskloa) gave the Mustangs the lead, 94-92 with a minute to play on a putback. The Lions' McCoy however, would force another overtime period with a pair of free throws, 94-94.
The third overtime period began again with the teams trading buckets back and forth, With 2:23 on the clock, Kobe Campbell fouled out for the Lions, giving them only four playable player for the rest of the game. The Mustangs quickly took advantage of this with a three from Atanasovs. Seales woudl seal the deal with a pair of free throws for a 109-106 win.
McCoy scored 35 points on the Mustangs for the Lions. Payton Brown added 28 as well.
Top Mustangs:
Cortaviaus Seales (Rock Island, IL/North Scott High School): 34 pts
Aaron Miller (Queens Village, NY/Benjamin Cardozo High School): 17 pts
The Mustangs will be back in action February 24
th against Oklahoma Christian on Drag's Court (2:00 PM MT).
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, TikTok, YouTube, Facebook & Instagram)
