LAS VEGAS, N.M. --- It was off the to the races for the New Mexico Highlands men's basketball team as the Cowboys scored the most points in a game in at least the previous 16 years in a 119-84 victory over University of the Southwest on Saturday in their home opener at Wilson Complex.
NMHU (3-1) scored the most points in a game since at least 2002 (statistics not immediately available before then) – with the next high point total being a 115-99 win over Western New Mexico on Jan. 22, 2011.
"The idea for us coming into this game was really getting into our press," NMHU coach
Craig Snow said. "We have to keep improving. They exposed us a bit on the back end, but our guys were flying around making steals and being disruptive."
The Cowboys jumped right on the Mustangs as they raced out to a 10-0 lead – capped by a
Gerad Davis 3-pointer. USW got back as close as five at 15-10, but NMHU kept expanding the lead and it reached 20 at 45-25 after a bucket in the paint by
Nnamdi Okoro with 5:06 remaining in the first half.
The lead grew to 32 at the half as
Jordan Jones swished a 3-pointer in the final seconds to push the NMHU advantage to 65-33. The game wouldn't get much closer than that in the second half as the Cowboys reached the century mark for the first time since beating Colorado Christian 100-92 on Feb. 13, 2016.
Davis led the Cowboys with 27 points and nine rebounds, going a perfect 3-for-3 from beyond the arc.
Jordan Jones finished with 23 points, four 3-pointers and four steals,
D.J. Bustos scored 17 points while going 5-for-9 from 3-point range,
Raquan Mitchell had 13 points and seven assists while Okoro finished with 10 points and six rebounds.
Adrian LaFleur in his first action of the season had a team-best nine assists to go along with six points, three rebounds and two steals while
Patrik Boloz finished with a Cowboy-high three blocks to go along with four rebounds and six points.
As a team, the Cowboys shot 53.8 percent from the field – and a game after going 1-for-18 from 3-point range – went 19-for-40 on Saturday night. USW finished the game shooting 40 percent from the field and 30.8 percent from 3-point range.
NMHU returns to action 7 p.m. Monday when they travel to take on Northern New Mexico.
