Box Score SPEARFISH, S.D. – Both teams held leads of 13 in the game, but the Yellow Jackets achieved this mark in the second half as the New Mexico Highlands University men's basketball team (9-7, 6-6 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference) fell to Black Hills State (7-8, 5-6 RMAC) 98-89 Saturday night in Spearfish, S.D.
The Cowboys raced out to a double-digit lead by scoring 12 of the game's first 13 points, hitting their first four shots of the game. Senior
Mannie Cass hit a jumper off of classmate
Stargell Love's block. Senior
Stuart Sullivan and Cass hot back-to-back triples before the Yellow Jackets split from the line. Jumpers by senior
Dominick Baca and Love gave Highlands a 12-1 lead four minutes in.
Up five just two minutes later, Highlands scored eight unanswered over a three-minute span. Baca started with a jumper while Highlands hit six straight from the charity stripe.
For the game, Cass led all scorers with 31 points – the most points he has scored since he tallied 45 against Western State Dec. 13. Sullivan scored 13 while Baca added 14.
The home team did not go away, going on a 9-0 run over a two-minute span near half to cut the Highlands advantage to two. Two jumpers by Myles Henry were followed by a triple by Tommy Earl. Riley Ryan finished the run with a jumper before Baca hit a triple and quickly put the Cowboys back up five.
Down by five near half, Earl and Henry hit jumpers as Highlands held a slim 42-41 lead at the break.
Henry scored 24 to lead the Yellow Jackets while Earl added a double-double with 23 points and 10 boards. Black Hills State used a 35-14 edge in points off the bench to take control of the game.
The second half went back and forth for the first four minutes with two ties and three lead changes, but a 15-2 run turned a two-point lead for the Cowboys into an 11-point deficit with 11:12 left. Baca cut the deficit to six with an old-fashioned three with 48 seconds left, but Highlands could not climb any closer in the eight-point loss.
New Mexico Highlands returns to action next weekend for a single game at Western New Mexico. Game time has been moved to 4 p.m.
