Las Vegas, New Mexico - The Cowboys, 1-8 overall and 1-1 in the RMAC, have a pair of midweek conference games on tap this week as they travel to Fort Lewis on Tuesday and host Adams State on Thursday.
NMHU split a pair of games last week to open conference play by defeating Regis 72-57 on Thursday evening and falling at Colorado School of Mines 81-80 on Saturday.
Marcus Pierce averaged 16.0 points per game to lead the Cowboys.
Nikk Williams recorded his second double-double of the season on Saturday as he scored 12 points and grabbed a game high 14 rebounds.
COACH SETTEMBRE: Coach Settembre is in his first season leading the Cowboys program having been named the head coach on April 8, 2025. Settembre brings an impressive resume to the helm of the Cowboys having served as an assistant coach at Tarleton State, New Mexico State, and Coastal Carolina. He was the head coach at Tallahassee Community College where he led his teams to back-to-back conference championships and a 46-9 record. Settembre's climb up the DI ranks was in part facilitated by one of the sport's legends. He is a 2012 graduate of Syracuse and served as a student manager under Jim Boeheim.
RMAC COACHES POLL: New Mexico Highlands men's basketball was picked 11th in the 2025-26 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Preseason Coaches' Poll that was released last month. The Cowboys were 12-16 overall and 5-15 in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference last season.
SCOUTING THE OPPOSITION: Fort Lewis is 3–4 overall on the season and opened RMAC play at 2–0, earning conference victories over MSU Denver and Regis during the opening weekend. Jordan Mast, a graduate of Warner Pacific, is in his second season as the head coach at Fort Lewis. The Skyhawks were tabbed for a fifth place finish in the RMAC Preseason Coaches' Poll. Fort Lewis holds a 6-4 edge over the Cowboys in the last ten meetings in the series.
Adams State comes to historic Las Vegas with an overall record of 6-3 and a 1-1 mark in conference play. The Grizzlies lost to the Colorado School of Mines and beat MSU-Denver to open conference play last weekend. Kenny Tripp is in his third season as the head coach of the Grizzlies. Adams State was picked for a ninth place finish in the RMAC Preseason Coaches' Poll. The Grizzles are 6-4 against NMHU in the last ten meetings.
STATISTICALLY SPEAKING: Through seven games
Marcus Pierce leads the Cowboys in scoring at 14.2 points per game.
Dontae Walker is also in double figures at 11.3 points per game.
Marcus Pierce is ninth in the RMAC in free throw percentage at 84.8%.
Nikk Williams is fifth in the RMAC in rebounding at 7.8 per game and seventh in steals with 1.7 per games.
TEST THEM COWBOYS: Tuesday's game at Fort Lewis marks the ninth game away from Las Vegas of the young season for NMHU. The Cowboys have been tested early this season with road games at North Texas, New Mexico State, and New Mexico. Their season began in early November at the D2CCA Tipoff Classic at The Trailhead in Billings, Montana, where they faced Montana State–Billings, Angelo State, and Central Missouri. The schedule also includes matchups against Western New Mexico, Eastern New Mexico, and Cameron from the Lone Star Conference. The first three Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference games of the season are road games.
ON THE AIR: Both of this week's games will be broadcast on the
RMAC Network.
UP NEXT: The Cowboys hit the road for a non-conference game at Western Colorado next Tuesday evening. Tip-off in Gunnison is at 6:00pm.
CLEAR BAG POLICY: NMHU has implemented a
Clear Bag Policy for all on-campus events.
GET YOUR TICKETS: Single game and season tickets for NMHU basketball are on sale now and can be purchased on-line at
NMHUAthletics.com/Tickets.
