Box Score Denver, Colo. – The NMHU Cowboy Basketball team was unable to upset the NCAA DII 2nd ranked Roadrunners of Metropolitan State University of Denver, on 1/4. Metro State maintained their control of the top spot in the RMAC with a 92-71 victory over the Cowboys on their home court. With the loss the Cowboys, led by Head Coach Joe Harge, fall to a 2-5 record in the RMAC and 4-7 in overall play.
The Cowboys started the game out well, taking the early lead and maintaining control for several minutes. The Roadrunners battled back and took a two-point lead with 13:32 remaining in the first half of play. Metro State would not relinquish control of the lead from that point on.
The Cowboys continued to play well in the first half and kept Metro State's lead in the single digits. When the buzzer sounded for halftime, the Roadrunners took a five-point lead (43-38) into the locker-room.
Mannie Cass hit the first shot of the second half, cutting the Metro State lead down to just three points. The Cowboys continued to battle and they were able to hold Metro State to a single digit lead until the 15:04 mark of the second half.
At that point the RMAC leaders began to put distance on the scoreboard. The Roadrunners slowly increased their lead until they were up by 21 points with 10:38 left to play. Metro State would lead by as much as 25 points in the second half.
The Cowboys were unable to regain their earlier momentum and when the final buzzer sounded Metro State sealed the victory on their home court by the final score of 92-71.
Four Cowboys scored in double-digits in the game.
Stargell Love led the Cowboys in scoring with 14 points in his 28 minutes on the court. Love would add four assists, three steals, and three rebounds to his night's totals.
Mannie Cass finished the game with 13 points from 34 minutes of playing time. Cass added in three rebounds, two assists, and two blocked shots to the Cowboys' efforts.
Lavelle McDade also played 34 minutes in the game and scored 12 points for the Cowboys. McDade led the Cowboys with seven rebounds and finished with two assists and two steals. He also shot a perfect 4-4 from the free-throw line.
Lionel Coleman rounded out the top performers for the Cowboys with 10 points. Coleman contributed two assists, one rebound, one steal, and a blocked shot in his 25 minutes on the court.
Metro State dominated the paint in the game, where they outscored the Cowboys 40-28. The Roadrunners took advantage of NMHU mistakes by scoring 25 points off of turnovers. Although the turnovers numbers were close, the Cowboys were only able to generate 13 points from Metro State's errors.
The Cowboys will continue conference action again on 1/5, as they visit the Rangers of Regis University in Denver, Colo. The Rangers are just two spots ahead of the Cowboys in the RMAC standings, sitting in eighth place with a 2-4 conference record and 3-6 in overall play. The game is scheduled for a 5:00 p.m. tip-off time, beginning shortly after the completion of the Cowgirls' game. If you can't make the trip up to Denver to watch your Cowboys in action, you can click
HERE to follow the game via Live Stats. If you would like to catch the game live via internet stream you can click
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GO COWBOYS!!!
