No. 7 Cowboys roll past No. 3 Regis, heading to RMAC Tourney title game

GOLDEN, Colo. --- For the second time in New Mexico Highlands men's basketball history, the Cowboys will be playing for the RMAC Tournament championship.
 
NMHU again blitzed a higher seed from the opening tip as the seventh-seeded Cowboys took an early lead and fought off each third-seeded Regis charge to defeat the defending RMAC Tournament champ Rangers 87-77 in the RMAC Tournament semifinals Friday night at Lockridge Arena.
 
The Cowboys (21-9) will take on No. 4 Black Hills State – which knocked off No. 1 Colorado School of Mines – 7 p.m. Saturday at Lockridge Arena in the RMAC Tournament championship game with a bid to the NCAA Tournament on the line. The only other time the Cowboys made it to the RMAC Tournament finals was in 2010.
 
It also marks only the second time in RMAC Tournament history that a No. 7 seed has made it the championship game – the other being Colorado Mesa in 2012.
 
As for Friday night, a two-hand dunk by Nnamdi Okoro on an assist from Adrian LaFleur at the 15:31 mark in the first half ignited a 10-0 run that included a Raquan Mitchell 3-pointer to turn a 7-7 tie into a 17-7 NMHU lead over Regis (20-10) with 13:53 remaining.
 
The Rangers wouldn't get within a possession of the Cowboys the rest of the game.
 
The NMHU lead was trimmed to four points at 22-18 with less than nine minutes left in the first half before a Gerad Davis layup, Mitchell 3-pointer, a Davis dunk, Desmond Carpenter 3-pointer, a Carpenter layup and another Mitchell 3-pointer made it 37-23 with 3:07 to play in the half. The Cowboys went into the break with a 44-29 lead.
 
The Cowboys continue to increase the lead as a thunderous Jordan Jones dunk followed by a Davis steal and two-hand slam gave NMHU a 66-43 lead with 9:57 remaining in the contest.
 
But Regis didn't go away as it slowly chipped away at the 23-point advantage – getting it down to 10 points at 76-66 with 4:10 left.
 
The Cowboys wouldn't let it get to single digits as a steal and DJ Bustos layup with 3:28 remaining ended the run and the Rangers wouldn't get any closer until there was 16 seconds left to make the final margin of victory for NMHU 10 points.
 
The Cowboys were again led by the 1-2 punch of All-RMAC First Teamers Mitchell and Davis. Mitchell finished with 28 points to go along with four rebounds, five assists and five steals while Davis had 25 points, 10 rebounds, four assists and four steals. Carpenter stepped up for the Cowboys, finishing with 12 points, two assists and two steals while Nnamdi Okoro had nine points, seven rebounds and two blocks.
 
NMHU shot 50.9 percent from the field, including going 8-for-19 from 3-point range. The Cowboys shot 63.9 percent from the free throw line (23-for-36), but did outrebound Regis 35-34 and forced 21 turnovers – leading to 28 points off of those turnovers. However, the Cowboys committed a season-high 20 turnovers – but it didn't keep them from leading 35 minutes, 42 seconds of the game.
 
NOTES: The Cowboys picked up their 21st win of the season Friday – the most for the program since at least 1974-75 … In the Cowboys' wins over No. 2 Dixie State and No. 3 Regis during the RMAC Tournament – NMHU has led for 69 minutes and 29 seconds of a possible 80 minutes and has trailed just 4:44 … NMHU is now 5-11 all-time in the RMAC Tournament … NMHU will be looking for its first NCAA Tournament bid since 2010 … In the 26-year history of the RMAC Tournament, the Cowboys have never had an All-Tournament player – which is likely to change this season … The Cowboys lost both matchups against Black Hills State this season (by a combined 12 points) – but that hasn't seemed to matter in the tournament as the Cowboys lost to Dixie State and Regis in their previous matchups this season before beating them in the postseason.