GUNNISON, Colo. – The Cowboys absolutely dominated the paint to the tune of 40-14 as New Mexico Highlands (1-5, 1-2 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference) beat Western State (1-6, 0-3 RMAC) 77-68 Friday night (Dec. 12).
It was the first victory as a collegiate head coach for former New Mexico Lobo assistant
Craig Snow. "I'm just really happy for our guys," Snow said. "They've been working hard in practice, had the right attitude and I felt we were really starting to improve as a team. It's just nice to see their work rewarded with a win. We've been focused on taking better shots, and I thought we did that tonight.
"We are still a work in progress, but tonight's win gives us some positive momentum. We knew we were going to get a good shot from Western with this being their home opener," Snow added.
The 26-point advantage in the key came in part because of junior
Kaylen Shane, who recorded the first Cowboy double-double of the season with 16 points and 11 rebounds. Shane hit all six shots from the field taken. Classmate
Jonathon Mines etched a game-best 22 points – including hitting 10-of-17 from the charity stripe – while junior
Charles George came off the bench for 20 points.
"Kaylen really controlled the interior and played like he's capable of playing. Also was nice to see Jonathon get to the line 17 times. His shot really started falling and Chuck really provided a spark off the bench. But overall, this is a team game and this was a team win."
While Highlands held a slim 33-30 lead at halftime, the Cowboys shot a blazing 59.1 percent (13-22) in the second half to build the lead to as much as 16. Tied at 33 after Western State started the second half with a three, the Cowboys went on a 10-2 spurt to take control of the game. Senior
Erick Vega found Shane cutting to the basket for the easy dunk to put Highlands up two. The Vega-to-Shane combination put the Cowboys up four before Shane cleaned up a Vega miss to push the advantage to six. Western State hit a pair from the line, but George hit a jumper and Shane made a layup. Highlands led 43-35 with 11:15 left in the game.
After both teams split from the line in the last three possessions, cutting the lead to seven, a 13-4 run opened up the largest lead of the game for Highlands. Mines scored seven unanswered on his own with a fastbreak layup, a pair of free throws and a triple. Both teams hit a jumper before Western State split in a pair of trips to the free throw. Freshman
Joe Anaya and a fastbreak layup by George punctuated the run as Highlands led 57-41 with 8:21 left in the game.
The Cowboys never led by less than seven the rest of the way in the nine-point win.
Highlands built a 31-22 lead with 1:39 left in the first half before an 8-2 run by Western State cut the lead to only three at the break. After a dunk by Shane off an offensive rebound to push the lead to nine, he was whistled for a technical foul. Mason Biddle, who led the Mountaineers with 19 points and five assists, sank both free throws. Ben Schmidt, who added 11 points off the bench, was then fouled and sank both free throws. After an offensive stand, Dominique Brown hit a layup off a pass from Biddle to cut the deficit to three. A jumper by George slowed down the home team, but Spencer Fair answered with a layup on an offensive board to put the visitors' lead at 33-30 into the intermission.
Besides Biddle and Schmidt, Danny Hopkins scored 11 while Alex Eddy came off the bench for 13 for Western State.
The Cowboys return to action tomorrow at 7:30 p.m. against Colorado Mesa in Grand Junction, Colorado.
