Cowboys Close Out Regular Season In Colorado

Las Vegas, New Mexico - New Mexico Highlands is 12-17 overall and 10-8 in Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference play as the Cowboys head into the final two games of the regular season. They travel to Colorado Christian for an 8:00 p.m. tip Thursday night before closing the regular season at UCCS on Saturday at 3:00 p.m.

The Cowboys split last week's conference games in Las Vegas, defeating South Dakota Mines 85-68 on Thursday before falling to Black Hills State, 85-77, on Saturday. NMHU's leading scorer, Marcus Pierce, averaged 20 points per game across the two contests.

PLAYOFFS!: For the first time since the 2021-22 season, the Cowboys have secured a berth in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Playoffs, which begin March 3. This weekend's games will determine final seeding and the Cowboys' quarterfinal opponent.

Entering play Thursday night, New Mexico Highlands and UCCS are tied at 10-8 in the conference standings.

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: Colorado Christian enters Thursday night at 12-14 overall and 7-11 in RMAC play. Pierce Bazil leads the Cougars at 18.1 points per game, while Joshua Reid tops the team in rebounding at 5.9 per contest. Liam Simmons is in his sixth season as head coach at Colorado Christian.

This will be the second meeting of the season between the two teams. Colorado Christian defeated New Mexico Highlands 80-63 in a non-conference match up earlier this season in Las Vegas, despite 15 points from Ramiah Adedigba.

UCCS comes in at 15-11 overall and 10-8 in conference play after wins over Colorado School of Mines and Regis last week. Sophomore Marzouq Abdur-Razaaq leads the Mountain Lions in scoring (14.0 ppg) and rebounding (6.0 rpg). Jeff Culver, a graduate of the University of Michigan, is in his 14th season at the helm.

The Cowboys defeated UCCS 94-79 in Las Vegas just over a month ago, with Marcus Pierce pouring in a game-high 24 points.





















STATISTICALLY SPEAKING:  The Cowboys head into play this week averaging 78.5 points per game while allowing 78.7 per outing.

The Cowboys lead the RMAC and are 18th nationally in bench scoring at 32.8 points per game.

Marcus Pierce leads the Cowboys 15.1 points per game.  Ramiah Adedigba (11.8 points per game),  Ibrahima Sacko (11.2 per game), and Dontae Walker (10.7 points per game) are also averaging double-figures.  

Ibrahima Sacko leads the RMAC in field goal percentage at 59.2%.

Marcus Pierce is ninth in the RMAC in field goal percentage at 49.4%.

Nikk Williams is eighth in the RMAC in rebounding at 6.6 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 29 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.  LiveStats will also be available for both games.

UP NEXT:  The Cowboys play an RMAC Quarter Final game on Tuesday night.  Location and time to be determined based on the outcome of this weekend's games.

GET YOUR TICKETS:  Tickets for the RMAC postseason are available at the RMAC Championship Ticketing site.