Box Score Lakewood, Colo. - The Cowboys men's basketball team opened up Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference play Friday night (Dec 6) and decided that 40 minutes was not enough. New Mexico Highlands University (4-1, 1-0 RMAC) went into double overtime to knock off Colorado Christian (2-3, 0-1 RMAC) in a thrilling contest Friday night (Dec. 6).
Tied at 97 in overtime, senior
Mannie Cass nailed a triple while being fouled to put Highlands in the lead for good. He made the ensuing free throw to score his 35th point, a new career high. Both teams split from the line before Colorado Christian's Lance Vesper hit a lay-up to draw the Cougars within two. The Cowboys missed a jumper with 22 seconds left, but the defense did not even allow a final shot from Colorado Christian.
For the game, four senior Cowboys scored double-digit points. Besides Cass' career high,
Lavell McDade chipped in 23 points - the third-straight game he reached double-digit scoring.
Stuart Sullivan narrowly missed the double-double, coming off the bench for 17 points and nine rebounds.
Stargell Love finished the game with 10 points.
In the first half, Cass had a hot hand from the three point line, hitting four of seven treys. After falling behind by as much as eight points in the first half, the Cougars climbed within two with a minute left. However, McDade hit a triple and then grabbed a steal to end the stanza and put the Cowboys up 49-44.
McDade ended the first half with 17 points, shooting 4-5 (80 percent) from the three point line and adding two assists. Cass ended the first half with 15 points, shooting 57.1 percent (4-7) from behind the arc.
In the beginning of the second half, Colorado Christian took a 52-51 lead, its first advantage since the opening minute of the game. Love responded with a layup and Cass continued his hot hand from the three-point line to give the Cowboys back the lead, 57-54.
With 7:19 left in regulation, junior
Jeverik Nelson hit a jumper to give the Cowboys their first double-digit lead of the game at 81-71. Highlands led by as much as 12, but the home team would not go away.
With 1:52 left, the Cougars came within 85-83 with a jumper by Kyle Weaver. The Cowboys then were fouled and split from the charity stripe, putting them up by three. On the ensuing possession, Weaver tied the game up with a triple that sent the game into overtime.
The first overtime saw both teams only score six points. Highlands held a three-point lead near the end of the first extra period, but Wayne McCullough buried a triple to send the teams to another extra period. Cass' four-point play in the second overtime put the Cowboys ahead for good.
New Mexico Highlands returns to action when it travels to Golden, Colo., to take on #19 Colorado School of the Mines on Saturday (Dec. 7) at 8:00 p.m. The game will be aired live on the America One Network while live stats will be available via the Mines' web site.
