Big Road Trip On Tap For Cowboys

Las Vegas, New Mexico - New Mexico Highlands is 10-15 overall and 8-6 in Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference play as the Cowboys head back on the road this week for games at Westminster on Thursday night and Colorado Mesa on Saturday afternoon.

The Cowboys split last week's conference contests, falling 92-79 at Adams State on Tuesday before bouncing back with a 93-88 overtime victory over Fort Lewis on Saturday in historic Las Vegas.

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.

SCOUTING THE OPPOSITION: Westminster enters Thursday night's match up with a 9-13 overall record and a 4-10 mark in the RMAC after defeating Regis last Thursday and falling in overtime at Colorado School of Mines on Saturday. Michael Frazier leads the Griffins in scoring at 12.9 points per game, while Jonah El-Farrar is the team's top rebounder at 6.5 per contest. Norm Parrish is in his 11th season as Westminster's head coach. Since the Griffins rejoined the RMAC in 2015-16, they and the Cowboys have met 13 times, with New Mexico Highlands holding a 7-6 edge in the series, including a 79-76 win last season in Las Vegas.

Colorado Mesa carries a 15-7 overall record and an 11-3 conference mark after sweeping road games at MSU Denver and Regis last week. The Mavericks host Fort Lewis on Thursday night before welcoming the Cowboys to Grand Junction on Saturday afternoon. Hall of Famer Mike Dunlap is in his second season as head coach after leading CMU to a 19-10 record and an RMAC playoff berth last year. Ty Allard leads the Mavericks with 18.5 points and 8.0 rebounds per game, and Colorado Mesa holds a 9-1 edge over the Cowboys in the past 10 meetings.es in the series between the two teams including a 94-84 win in historic Las Vegas on January 8th.




















STATISTICALLY SPEAKING:  The Cowboys head into play this week averaging 77.7 points per game while allowing 78.4 per outing.

The Cowboys lead the RMAC and are 17th nationally in bench scoring at 33.2 points per game.

Marcus Pierce leads the Cowboys 14.3 points per game.  Ramiah Adedigba (11.5 points per game) and Dontae Walker (10.9 points per game) are also averaging double-figures.  

Marcus Pierce is seventh in the RMAC in free throw percentage at 86.3%.

Nikk Williams is sixth in the RMAC in rebounding at 6.9 per game. 

Caileb Parham is eighth in the RMAC with 1.5 steals per game.

TEST THEM COWBOYS: New Mexico Highlands has been battle-tested this season, playing 25 regular-season games with 14 of those coming away from historic Las Vegas. The Cowboys were also challenged early with road exhibition contests 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 slate also featured matchups against Western New Mexico, Eastern New Mexico, and Cameron of the Lone Star Conference.

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

ON THE AIR: This week's games will be broadcast on the RMAC Network and the host teams will provide LiveStats.

UP NEXT:  The Cowboys return to Las Vegas for the final home regular season games of the year hosting South Dakota Mines on Thursday and Black Hills State on Saturday.

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

GET YOUR TICKETS: Single game tickets for NMHU basketball's remaining games are on sale now and can be purchased on-line at NMHUAthletics.com/Tickets.