Shooting woes burn Cowboys in loss to Chadron State

CHADRON, Neb. --- The New Mexico Highlands men's basketball team needed just eight minutes to rally from a 14-point halftime deficit against Chadron State. However, the Cowboys couldn't sustain that same energy and overcome shooting struggles from beyond the arc as they fell to the Eagles 80-69 on Saturday night at Chicoine Center.
 
NMHU (12-4 overall, 7-3 RMAC) went 5-for-33 from 3-point range (15.2 percent – worst shooting from 3-point range since going 1-for-12 in a win over Western New Mexico in the third game of the season) and shot just 33.3 percent from the field (also its second-worst shooting performance of the season) while Chadron State (8-8, 6-4) shot 50 percent from the field and was 7-for-17 from 3-point range to hand the Cowboys their third loss in league play.
 
NMHU was just 1-for-14 from beyond the arc in the first half and trailed the Eagles 38-24 at the break. The Cowboys turned things around, however, as they went on a 24-9 run to start the second half capped by a steal by Gerad Davis, 3-pointer by Adrian LaFleur, a steal by DJ Bustos and an impressive reverse layup by Jordan Jones – all within a 29-second period – to give NMHU a 48-47 lead with 12:30 remaining in the contest.
 
The Cowboys led by as much as three at 50-47 before a 9-0 run by the Eagles gave Chadron State the lead back at 56-50 with 10:13 left in the game. The Cowboys wouldn't get closer than four points the rest of the game as they struggled to find their offensive rhythm as the 69 points is their second-lowest scoring output of the season.
 
Davis led the Cowboys with 21 points to go along with five rebounds, four steals and three assists. Nnamdi Okoro had 16 points while Raquan Mitchell had 15 points, five rebounds and two blocks. NMHU did force 20 turnovers and scored 23 points off of those compared to committing just 11 turnovers (for 17 points for the Eagles), but it wasn't enough to overcome the Cowboys' shooting woes.
 
NMHU has a chance to bounce right back 7 p.m. Saturday as the Cowboys travel to take on MSU Denver.