PUEBLO, Colo. – The Cowboys trailed by double digits in the first half for the third straight game only to retake the lead. However, the Thunderwolves came back for the win as New Mexico Highlands (4-14, 4-10 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference) fell at CSU-Pueblo (13-7, 9-5 RMAC) 77-67 Friday night (Jan. 30).
Junior
Kendrick Nichols opened the scoring in the game with a three, but CSU-Pueblo scored 14 unanswered and went on a 19-2 run to open up a 14-point advantage, its largest of the game. However, the Cowboys responded with a 9-1 run to cut the deficit down to six. Junior
Amal Wilson split from the line before sophomore
Ricky Norris and Wilson made a layup. After the home team split from the line, junior
Jonathon Mines made a layup and junior
Charles George hit a jumper to make it 20-14 with 8:53 left.
CSU-Pueblo sat with a 24-15 lead before the Cowboys scored eight unanswered. Norris hit a layup and before Mines scored six. He went 3-4 from the charity stripe and buried a triple to cut the deficit to 24-23 with six minutes left in the half. However, Highlands could not take the lead and trailed 32-31 at the break.
Neither team could exert control early in the second half. With the Cowboys trailing 48-44, Mines buried a triple and Nichols split from the line to tie the game. After a stop, Norris grabbed the defensive board and outletted to Nichols for the fastbreak dunk and the Highlands 50-48 lead with 10:08 left in the contest.
Mines led Highlands with 26 points while Nichols chipped in 18. Norris again led the team in rebounds (seven) and added 13 points.
Facing its first deficit in the game since the opening minutes, CSU-Pueblo rallied to take control. Down 52-51, Jed Knafelc hit a jumper to start a run of seven unanswered for the Thunderwolves. Tyrone Marshall then completed an old-fashioned three and added a jumper to give CSU-Pueblo a 58-52 lead with seven minutes left. Highlands cut it to 63-60, but Marshall again had a triple the hard way and Knafelc hit a layup to push the home team's advantage to eight. The Thunderwolves went on to win by 10.
Marshall led CSU-Pueblo with 20 while Knafelc had 16. Bronson Moton added 14 while Braydon Kuiper came off the bench for 14.
The Cowboys return to action Saturday (Jan. 31) when it battles RMAC-leading UC-Colorado Springs. Game time is 7:30 p.m.
