Las Vegas, New Mexico - The Cowboys jumped out to a strong start and led wire-to-wire in a 94-79 victory over UCCS on Thursday night. With the win, New Mexico Highlands improved to 7-13 overall and 5-4 in Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference play, while the Mountain Lions dropped to 10-7 on the season and 5-4 in conference action.
New Mexico Highlands came out of the gate on fire Thursday night, racing to an 11-0 lead in the opening five minutes. The advantage grew to 23 points when
Dontae Walker knocked down a jumper nine minutes later to give the Cowboys a 33-10 cushion. New Mexico Highlands carried a 39-27 lead into the locker room at halftime. Â
UCCS made a push midway through the second half, trimming the deficit to three at 54-51, but the Cowboys answered with a run of their own. From that point on, New Mexico Highlands outscored the Mountain Lions 40-28 to pull away for the double-digit win.
For the fourth consecutive game,
Marcus Pierce led the Cowboys in scoring as he poured in a game high 24 points including an 11 for 12 effort from the free throw line. Â
Ibrahima Sacko added 19 points, Walker finished with 15, and
Ramiah Adedigba chipped in 11.
New Mexico Highlands were efficient all night, shooting 62.3 percent from the floor - their second-best shooting performance of the season - while edging UCCS on the glass, 34-31.
The Cowboys play game two of their four game home stand on Saturday, hosting CSU Pueblo at 2:00 pm.
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