ESPAÑOLA , New Mexico – The University of the Southwest men's basketball team played in two games at the Northern New Mexico Classic and came away with a 1-1 record to start the season, beating Ottawa University (AZ), and falling to host Northern New Mexico College.

In the first game, the Mustangs came up short against host, Northern New Mexico College 77-98. Ron'Quis Lewis and Demond Parker combined to score 38 of the Mustangs points to lead the team and combined to score 12 points over the final 6 minutes for the Mustangs, who came back from a 19-point deficit to trail by nine points at the half.

The game's major turning point came at the outset of the 2nd half when Northern New Mexico College went on an 12-0 run to extend a 9-point lead into a 20-point lead with a stretch of four possessions with made three point field goals. The Mustangs, trailed the rest of the way as they could get no closer than 20 points.

"We played really well in the 1st half and shot 52%  but Northern just continued to attack the basket and shoot the 3's on us in the second half" USW head coach Timm Dixon said. "We got off to slow start in the second half and Northern came out as the more aggressive team and caused some turnovers we shouldn't have had and that is a great learning point for us, that we have to take care of the ball and get into our offense."

The Mustangs shot 47% from the field and 36% from behind the arc for the game, but were out rebounded 45-30. The Mustangs fall to 0-1 to open the season while the Eagles move to 1-0.

In the second game, the Mustangs led by as many as 13 points in the first half and held a 6-point lead going into halftime against Ottawa (AZ) Spirit 35-29.  The Mustangs came out aggressive in the first half and held the Spirit to 36% field goal shooting.

The Spirit would come out in the second half by outscoring the Mustangs 6-0 to tie the game. The Mustangs hit a free throw to stop Ottawa's run of unanswered points, and the game was a defensive battle afterwards with numerous ties and lead changes the remainder of the game.

Neither team would let the other create too much distance in the second half as the largest lead both squads enjoyed was three points. Emmanuel McNeil who had a game-high 10 rebounds, scored 13 of his game-high 20 points in the second half while Ron'Quis Lewis, followed with 19 points and 9 rebounds.

Ottawa would twice get a chance in the final 1:05 to tie the game, the last instance after a missed free throw by Juan Gay brought the score to 65-63 with 0:45 seconds left to play. Fortunately the Spirit could not generate any additional offense as the buzzer sounded with the Mustangs holding on for the win.

"(This game) was a great experience for us," Dixon said. "It was a close game that we needed early in the season to show what we can do when the game is on the line. I am proud of how my guys competed defensively to beat a very good Ottawa team."

Even though the Mustangs shot 33% for the game, they held the Spirit to a 35% field goal percentage and only 26% from behind the arc. The Mustangs out-rebounded the Spirit 49-37 and forced them into 15 turnovers for the game.

The win moves the Mustangs on the season to 1-1 and now will travel on the road to face Mid America Christian University and Oklahoma Sciences and Arts University on November 2nd and 5th respectively. Both games will be broadcast on the respective institutions website.