Cowboys Home For Games With Colorado Mesa And Western Colorado

Las Vegas, New Mexico - The Cowboys have a pair of home conference games on tap this week as they host Colorado Mesa on Thursday at 7:00 pm and Western Colorado at 3:00 pm on Saturday.

NMHU lost a non-conference game at CSU-Pueblo last Saturday afternoon by a score of 70-57.  Ramiah Adedigba led the Cowboys with 18 points, marking his fifth consecutive game scoring in double figures while Ibrahima Sacko added 14 points off the bench.

COACH SETTEMBRE:  Coach Zach Settembre is in his first season leading the Cowboys after being named head coach on April 8, 2025. He picked up his first career win at New Mexico Highlands on December 4, when the Cowboys defeated Regis 72–57.

Settembre brings an impressive resume to the program, with assistant coaching stops at Tarleton State, New Mexico State, and Coastal Carolina. He previously served as the head coach at Tallahassee Community College, where he led his teams to back-to-back conference championships and compiled a 46–9 record.

A 2012 graduate of Syracuse, Settembre began his climb up the Division I ranks as a student manager under Hall of Fame coach 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, which was released prior to the start of the season. The Cowboys finished last season with a 12–16 overall record, going 5–15 in RMAC play.

Colorado Mesa was tabbed for a third place finish and Western Colorado was picked for a 13th place finish in the poll.

SCOUTING THE OPPOSITION: The Mavericks bring an overall record of 7-5 overall and a 3-1 mark in RMAC play to Thursday's match-up with the Cowboys. They topped Regis 90-62 on Saturday in Grand Junction to open the new year.  Hall of Famer Mike Dunlap is in his second season as the head coach of the Mavericks having led CMU to a 19-10 record and a berth in the RMAC playoffs a year ago.  Ty Allard leads the Mavericks with 18.3 points and 9.3 rebounds per game.  CMU holds an 8-2 lead in the past ten games in the series between the two teams including a pair of wins last season.  

Western Colorado is 5-7 overall and 3-1 in conference play heading into action this week.  The Mountaineers make a stop in Durango for a Thursday night match up with Fort Lewis before heading to historic Las Vegas for Saturday's game with the Cowboys.  NMHU handed the Mountaineers a 78-70 defeat in a non-conference game on December 16th in Gunnison.  Zac Claus is in his third season as head coach of the Mountaineers.  Aidan McDowell leads Western Colorado in scoring at  27.9 points per game while Tyler Halligan is the team's leading rebounder at 6.6 per outing.  NMHU holds a 6-4 edge in the last ten games played in the series between the two teams. 
 
STATISTICALLY SPEAKING:  Marcus Pierce leads the Cowboys in scoring at 13.1 points per game.  

Nikk Williams is sixth in the RMAC in rebounding at 7.6 per game. 

Marcus Pierce is ninth in the RMAC at 3.1 assists per game.  

TEST THEM COWBOYS:  New Mexico Highlands has played 15 regular-season games so far this season, with 11 of those coming away from historic Las Vegas. The Cowboys have also been tested early, playing exhibition games on the road at North Texas, New Mexico State, and New Mexico.

The regular season opened in early November at the D2CCA Tipoff Classic at The Trailhead in Billings, Montana, where Highlands faced nationally ranked Montana State-Billings, Angelo State, and Central Missouri. The non-conference schedule has also included match ups against Western New Mexico, Eastern New Mexico, and Cameron from the Lone Star Conference.

Adding to the challenge, the Cowboys' first three Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference games this season all came on the road.

ON THE AIR: This week's games will be broadcast on the RMAC Network with Scott Galetti and Steve Davis on the call.  LiveStats will also be available for both games.

UP NEXT:  The Cowboys are back on the road next week playing at nationally ranked Black Hills State on Thursday night and Chadron State on Saturday afternoon.

CLEAR BAG POLICY: NMHU has implemented a Clear Bag Policy for all on-campus events.

GET YOUR TICKETS: Season and single game tickets for NMHU basketball are on sale now and can be purchased on-line at NMHUAthletics.com/Tickets.