Box Score Las Vegas, N.M. – The Cowboy Basketball team continued their winning ways with a 90-86 victory over in-state rival Western New Mexico University, on Jan. 26. The Cowboys fought back from a first-half deficit to take the lead in the second half. They held on in the final seconds to capture their third straight conference win at the John A. Wilson Complex. With the win the Cowboys, led by Head Coach Joe Harge, improve to 6-7 in the RMAC and 8-9 in overall play.
The WNMU Mustangs scored first in the game, but the Pokes were able to grab a small lead soon after. However, the Mustangs took control of the lead with 14:28 left in the half.
At that point, the Mustangs were playing better than the Cowboys and they began to extend their lead. WNMU would lead by as much as nine points in the first half. The Cowboys managed to close the gap, but the Mustangs scored the final points of the half and took a 44-38 lead into the locker room.
Head Coach Joe Harge fired up the Cowboys at halftime because they came out ready to play in the second half. They opened up the action with an 8-0 run to take a two point lead (46-44).
The teams exchanged buckets for the next few minutes and the lead changed hands a couple of times. WNMU was able to regain their composure and it looked like they had control of the game when they extended their lead to nine points (62-53) with 14:58 remaining.
Lavell McDade stepped up and drove his team onwards. He hit a big 3-pointer that started a 9-0 Cowboy run, tying the game up at 62 points apiece. Again the teams traded points, until midway through the second half when the Cowboys began to take command of their home court.
With the Cowboys down by three points,
Lionel Coleman hit a three-point shot which started an 8-0 run that ended with another 3-pointer by McDade. The Cowboys just kept putting distance on the scoreboard and with 5:51 left in the game they held their biggest lead, 82-68.
WNMU was not done yet and the Mustangs whittled the Pokes' lead down to three points (86-83) with only 55 seconds remaining. But the Cowboys were not about to let this victory slip out of their grasp and they managed to keep the Mustangs at bay, bleeding seconds off the clock. When the buzzer sounded to end the game, the Cowboys had beaten their in-state rivals by the final score of 90-86.
Once again it was
Lavell McDade who led the Cowboys in their winning effort. McDade was all over the court on offensive, draining 3-pointers and driving the lane to finish with a game-high 25 points. He had a great all-around game, adding six rebounds, six assists, and four steals in his 39 minutes on the court.
Stargell Love continued his recent success by scoring 15 points for the Cowboys. Love played 27 minutes, grabbing six rebounds, six steals, and dishing out five assists.
Newcomer
Devin McCall had a good game from the paint against the Mustangs. He made the most of his 14 minutes of playing time, scoring 10 points and securing three rebounds.
The Cowboys' second-half performance made the difference in the game. They shot 53.33% from the field and matched that from beyond the three-point line. Mustang turnovers also helped the Cowboys as they scored 21 second-half points from WNMU mistakes.
The Cowboys will continue conference action on the road next weekend, as they travel to Pueblo, Colo. to take on the Thunderwolves of CSU – Pueblo, on Feb. 1. The Thunderwolves are sitting just one spot in front of the Cowboys in the RMAC standings, with a 6-6 conference record and 7-11 in overall play. The game is scheduled for a 7:30 p.m. tip-off time, following the Cowgirls' game. If you can't make it up to Pueblo to watch your Cowboys in action, you can click
HERE to follow the game via Live Stats. If you would like to view the game live online, you can click
HERE to follow the action on the America One Network.
GO COWBOYS!!!
