LAS VEGAS, N.M. – The Cowboys scored the first nine points of the game and led for the majority of the first half, but the Mountain Lions hit a three near the end of the half for their first lead of the game and started hot in the second half as New Mexico Highlands (1-7, 1-4 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference) fell to #4 UC Colorado Springs (11-0, 5-0 RMAC) 99-71 Friday night (Dec. 19) in Las Vegas, New Mexico.
Highlands scored in threes to score the first nine points of the game in less than two minutes. Junior
Kaylen Shane grabbed an offensive board and scored while being fouled. He hit the ensuing free throw to put the home team up three. After a stop, classmate
Jonathon Mines hit a triple. The Cowboys got another stop and Mines hit his second three in as many trips to put the home team up 9-0 and force a UC Colorado Springs timeout. The Mountain Lions missed their first three shots in the game, but the fourth was the charm as Derrick White – who scored a game-best 33 points – hit a jumper for the first score of the game for the visitors.
Junior
Kendrick Nichols followed with a jumper and the Cowboys led 11-2 with 17:35 left in the first half. Tim Bilingsley hit a pair of treys for the Mountain Lions to quickly cut the lead to three. UC Colorado Springs tied the game at 15, but a 12-4 run quickly put Highlands up 27-19 with 6:41 left in the first half. Sophomore
Justin Bustos hit a three while Nichols added a lay-up. Billingsley followed with a shot, but Nichols answered with a three to put the home team up six. After both teams traded baskets, freshman
Joe Anaya poked the ball away for a steal at half court and drove right to the dish to capitalize the run for the Cowboys.
With Highlands up two shortly before break, Kendall Godley hit a three for UC Colorado Springs to give the visitors its first lead in the game – a lead it would not relinquish.
For the Cowboys, Nichols narrowly missed the double-double with 17 points and a season-best nine rebounds. Mines led the team with 19 points, including a 5-for-9 mark from beyond the arc. Sophomore
Ricky Norris came off the bench for 15 points. As a team, the Cowboys left a lot of points on the charity stripe as they only went 6-for-15 (40 percent) from the line for the game.
A 12-2 run to begin the second half pushed the UC Colorado Springs lead to double digits. Like Highlands in the first half, the Mountain Lions completed an old-fashioned three to begin the half, this time by Alex Welsh. Senior
Erick Vega answered with a lay-up, but Welsh hit a layup and TreShawn Wilford scored on a fastbreak off a steal to push the deficit to six. Billingsley hit a triple and Welsh capped the run with a jumper as UC Colorado Springs led 52-31 with 17:50 left in the game.
The visitors pushed the lead to 68-51 with 12 minutes left, but Highlands brought the deficit back to single digits by scoring 10 unanswered. After junior
Charles George split from the line, Highlands got a stop and Bustos hit a fastbreak three. Shane than recorded a block, swatted the ball to George for the rebound, who outletetted to Mines for the fastbreak triple. Mines capped the run with a three to cut the deficit to 68-61 with 9:33 left.
However, the Mountain Lions showed why there are the #4 team in the nation, hitting 61.3 percent (19-31) of their shots in the second half and shot 24-for-32 (75 percent) from the charity stripe in the game.
Along with White, Billingsley recorded 19 points to reach double-digits for the visitors. UC Colorado Springs had six players in double-digits in the game for a combined 97 of the team's 99 points.
The Cowboys return to action tomorrow (Dec. 20) against CSU Pueblo at 7 p.m.
