Box Score LAS VEGAS, N.M. – The Cowboys managed to hit only 58.8 percent of their free throws while the Skyhawks hit 88.9 percent from the charity stripe as New Mexico Highlands University (7-6, 4-5 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference) fell to Fort Lewis (9-3, 6-2 RMAC) Friday night (Jan. 10) in men's basketball action at the John A. Wilson Complex.
Fort Lewis took control of the game with 32-36 shooting from the line, including 22-24 (91.7 percent) in the second half alone. Under 50.0 percent from the charity stripe late in the game, the Cowboys finished 10-17 in the contest.
Trailing by 13 at the break, the Cowboys fought back and cut the deficit to four on three different occasions in the second half. With the Skyhawks leading 66-51 with 7:10 left in the game, Highlands battled back with a 13-2 run. Redshirt freshman
Justin Bustos hit a fast break triple on a pass from senior
Stargell Love. A missed shot by Fort Lewis and a pair from the line by senior
Mannie Cass cut the deficit back to 10. Senior
Stuart Sullivan – who hit 6-9 (66.7 percent) from beyond the arc for a team-leading 18 points – hit a triple off a helper from Cass to cut the deficit to seven.
After a pair from the line from Fort Lewis temporarily halted the run, Bustos again tripled on a pass from Love. Love punctuated the run with a lay-up with 3:45 left as Highlands trailed 68-64. The Cowboys could not climb any closer as the Skyhawks made 15-16 from the charity stripe over the final five minutes of the game.
Besides Sullivan, Love came off the bench for the Cowboys with 14 points. Senior
Dominick Baca added 12 points. Love also contributed five rebounds, five steals and three assists against only one turnover.
The Cowboys controlled the tempo early in the game, pushing out to a five-point lead. Tied at eight, Baca hit a pair from the line and Sullivan drained a three from Baca to push the lead to 13-8 with 15:05 left in the first half.
With the Cowboys leading 15-10, the Skyhawks scored 13 unanswered over a six-minute span to take control of the game. Cade Kloster started the run for the visitors with a three and Wes McKenzie tied the game on a jumper. Alex Herrera – who led the team with 19 points, including 13 from the line – put Fort Lewis in the lead with a pair from the line. McKenzie added a lay-up with 10:45 left before both teams went scoreless over the next three minutes.
Nick Tomsick also scored 19 points for the visitors. McKenzie came off the bench for 17 points while Herrera completed the double-double with 13 rebounds.
A jumper and lay-up by McKenzie put the visitors up 23-15 with 7:29 remaining in the first half. Lay-ups by Love and junior
Jeverik Nelson cut the Cowboys deficit to four, but Highlands did not climb any closer in the game.
The New Mexico Highlands men's basketball team returns to action Saturday (Jan. 11) when it hosts Adams State at 8 p.m. The Grizzlies improve ti 7-4 overall and 4-4 in the RMAC after a 100-73 win over Western New Mexico.
