Cowboys get back on track, beat Westminster on the road

SALT LAKE CITY --- The New Mexico Highlands men's basketball team a day after seeing its seven-game win streak come to a close got right back on track as the Cowboys built a large second-half lead and held off a Westminster charge for a 79-70 win Saturday night at Behnken Field House.
 
The Cowboys (8-2 overall, 4-1 RMAC) built a 53-29 lead early in the second half, but saw it trimmed down to 66-59 advantage with 9:15 remaining in the contest. But Westminster (4-5 ,2-3) didn't make a field goal for the next 7 minutes, 13 seconds (made only a pair of free throws) – and despite the Cowboys only scoring five points over that stretch – it was enough for NMHU to pick up the victory.
 
NMHU held a 25-20 lead with eight minutes left in the first half before a 7-0 run capped by an Adrian LaFleur layup with 6:06 remaining gave the Cowboys a 32-20 lead. NMHU ended the half with a LaFleur 3-pointer, Jordan Jones 3-pointer and a Jones dunk for an 8-0 run in the final 1:25 to make it 47-29 Cowboys at the break.
 
The Cowboys scored the first six points of the second half as well, capped by a Nnamdi Okoro dunk at the 18:06 mark to make it 53-29. But Westminster didn't go away as over the next 10 minutes outscored NMHU 30-13 to cut the Cowboy lead to 66-59 with 9:15 remaining.
 

MBB | THE STEAL AND THE SLAM! Jones picks off a pass and slams it home as the Cowboys' lead grows to 24 points on Westminster. #LetsRide pic.twitter.com/vj5s54zIyr

— NMHU Athletics (@NMHU_Athletics) December 16, 2018

But both teams went cold from the field for the next six minutes as only a Jones 3-pointer was scored over that stretch to make it 69-59 with less than three minutes remaining in the game.
 
The Griffins got the score within five at 73-68 with 1:13 remaining, but the Cowboys went 6-for-6 from the free throw line the rest of the way to close out the win.
 
Raquan Mitchell led the Cowboys with 20 points while Jones had 16 points and two steals, Gerad Davis had 12 points, LaFleur finished with 10 while Nnamdi Okoro had nine points, 10 rebounds, two blocks, two steals and two assists.
 
The Cowboys shot 45.6 percent from the field, including going 10-for-32 (31.3 percent) from 3-point range. A big factor was the Cowboys going 17-for-19 from the free throw line and doing a better job on the glass – outrebounding Westminster 34-33.
 
Jacob McCord led five Griffins in double figures with 16 points to go along with seven rebounds and four assists.
 
The Cowboys return home and play their final game before the break 7 p.m. Wednesday when they welcome Northern New Mexico at Wilson Complex.