Box Score The NMHU Men's Basketball team started the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference season off with a bang, earning their first conference victory of the year, 87-81, over the Cougars of Colorado Christian University, on 11/30 in Las Vegas, N.M. Five Cowboys scored in double digits in a complete team effort to start out the 2012-13 conference season in style. With the victory the Cowboys, led by Head Coach Joe Harge, start the conference season with a 1-0 record and improve to 3-1 in overall play.
The Cougars started the game out by draining a quick three pointer, but the Cowboys quickly gained control. At the midway point of the first half the Cowboys had run out to a 15 point lead. The Cowboys extended that lead out to 17 points, but the Cougars regained their composure and began to climb back into the contest. When time ran out of the first half the Cougars had managed to whittle the Cowboys' lead down to just two points. The teams went into the locker-room with the Cowboys up 41-39.
The Cougars again started the scoring in the second half, tying the game up at 41 apiece. CCU seemed to have taken the momentum away from the Cowboys and they began to put distance on the scoreboard. With 12:53 left in the game, the Cougars had jumped out to a 10 point lead, 56-46.
The Cowboys put their heads to grind-stone and began to get back into the game. Roland Fitch hit a couple of clutch free-throw shots with 8:34 on the clock, giving the Cowboys a one-point lead. The Cowboys would not relinquish their lead for the remainder of the contest, despite the Cougars' best efforts to keep the game close. When the final horn sounded, the Cowboys had emerged victorious, 87-81, in the first Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference game of the 2012-13 season.
The Cowboys had five players score in double digits in a total team effort to capture the win against the Cougars.
Roland Fitch was the heart and soul of the Cowboys' victory tonight. Fitch scored 24 points and added eight rebounds and two steals in his 30 minutes on the court.
Mannie Cass followed up with 19 points, eight rebounds, a blocked shot, and a steal, while also playing for 30 minutes.
Dominick Baca and
Stargell Love both scored 15 points for the Cowboys. Baca had a hot hand from beyond the three-point arc, making five of his seven three-point attempts in 28 minutes on the court. Love was a perfect 6-6 from the free-throw line and added five assists in 25 minutes of playing time.
Lavell McDade rounds out the top-performers for the Cowboys. McDade was an effective court leader, scoring 14 points in his team-leading 36 minutes. He went 4-7 from beyond the three-point line and added three assists and three steals to his total stats for the night.
The Cowboys will continue conference action again on 12/1, as they host the Orediggers of the Colorado School of Mines. The Orediggers come into the game with a 0-1 record in the RMAC and 3-2 in overall play. The game is set for a 8:00 p.m. tip-off time, following the Cowgirls' Women's Basketball match-up against Mines. If you can't make it out to the John A. Wilson Complex to watch the Cowboys in action, you can click
HERE to follow the game live streaming on the America One Network.
GO COWBOYS!!!
