Late 3-pointer by Black Hills State edges Cowboys, 66-65

LAS VEGAS, N.M. --- The New Mexico Highlands men's basketball team overcame a seven-point, second-half deficit to take the lead with less than three minutes remaining, but a late 3-pointer by Black Hills State cost the Cowboys as they fell 66-65 Saturday at Wilson Complex.
 
The Cowboys (16-7 overall, 11-6 RMAC) trailed the Yellow Jackets (13-8, 12-5) 59-52 with 5:44 remaining in the contest before a 12-0 run over a 2:06 span capped by an Adrian LaFleur 3-pointer and a Gerad Davis bucket in the paint with 2:49 remaining gave the Cowboys a 64-59 advantage.
 
BHSU cut the lead to 64-63 after Dez Stoudamire split a pair of free throws with 19 seconds remaining. NMHU's Gerad Davis was fouled and he split two free throws with 18 seconds left to make it 65-63 Cowboys.
 
That's when the Yellow Jackets came up court and Makaleb McInnis took a dribble hand-off, turned and hit a 3-pointer with eight seconds remaining to give BHSU a 66-65 lead. NMHU had one more chance, but the game-winning attempt came up short.
 
For the first time in RMAC play since a win over Fort Lewis on Dec. 7, the Cowboys committed more turnovers than they forced as NMHU had 13 while BHSU had 10 (the Cowboys still led in points off turnovers, however, 16-9). The Cowboys went 5-for-10 from the free throw line (including missing a pair of front ends of one-and-ones in the second half), though the Yellow Jackets were worse at the line, going 3-for-8.
 
Davis led the Cowboys with 21 points to go along with six rebounds. Adrian LaFleur came off the bench with 15 points for NMHU while Nnamdi Okoro had eight points and eight rebounds, Raquan Mitchell had eight points and three assists and DJ Bustos had eight points.
 
NMHU, now in a tie for fourth place in the RMAC with Dixie State and UC Colorado Springs – a game back of BHSU and two back of Regis, hits the road next week for a pair of key conference contests against first-place Colorado School of Mines on Friday and UCCS on Saturday.