Cowboys Play Final Two Home Games Of The Regular Season

Las Vegas, New Mexico - New Mexico Highlands is 11-16 overall and 9-7 in Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference play as the Cowboys return home this week to face South Dakota Mines on Thursday night and Black Hills State on Saturday afternoon.

The Cowboys split last week's conference road games, earning a 91-84 win at Westminster University before dropping an 85-80 decision at Colorado Mesa University. Ibrahima Sacko scored 41 points across the two contests, including a career-high 22 in the victory over Westminster.

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: South Dakota Mines brings a 9-15 overall record and a 6-10 mark in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference to Las Vegas for Thursday's match up with the Cowboys. Michael Iseman is in his first season as head coach of the Hardrockers. Jason Lee leads South Dakota Mines in scoring at 18.4 points per game, while Gray Thompson is the team's top rebounder at 6.4 per contest.

Thursday's game is the only regular-season meeting between the two teams. The Cowboys hold an 8-2 edge in the last ten games of the series, including a 66-55 win last year in Rapid City.

Black Hills State University, ranked No. 17 in this week's NABC Division II Top 25, is 20-4 overall and 13-3 in RMAC play. The Yellow Jackets visit Adams State University on Thursday night before traveling to Las Vegas for Saturday's game. Redshirt sophomore Cam Lowe leads the team in both scoring (17.6 ppg) and rebounding (6.3 rpg).

Ryan Thompson is in his eighth season as head coach at Black Hills State. The Yellow Jackets have won nine of the past ten meetings with New Mexico Highlands, including a 79-74 decision in Spearfish earlier this season.





STATISTICALLY SPEAKING:  The Cowboys head into play this week averaging 78.3 points per game while allowing 78.8 per outing.

The Cowboys lead the RMAC and are 19th nationally in bench scoring at 32.9 points per game.

Marcus Pierce leads the Cowboys 14.7 points per game.  Ramiah Adedigba (11.9 points per game), Dontae Walker (10.9 points per game), and Ibrahima Sacko (10.8 per game) are also averaging double-figures.  

Ibrahima Sacko leads the RMAC in field goal percentage at 58.8%.

Marcus Pierce is eighth in the RMAC in field goal percentage at 50.2% and tenth in free throw percentage at 82.3%.

Nikk Williams is seventh in the RMAC in rebounding at 6.8 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 27 regular-season games with 16 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 with Scott Galetti and Steve Davis on the call.  LiveStats will also be available for both games.

UP NEXT:  The Cowboys close out the regular season with a Thursday game at Colorado Christian and a Saturday afternoon contest at UCCS.  

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.