HOBBS, NM – For the second time in a two-week span the USW men's basketball team came up just short in its quest to upset a NCAA DII team as it dropped a hard-fought 79-88 road decision to University of Texas Permian Basin, and previously a 65-63 loss to Ft Lewis College. However, a home win against Northern New Mexico College who previously had beaten the Mustangs on the road by 21 points, stopped a 4 game losing streak Friday, Nov 30th at the Mabee Center on the campus of the University of the Southwest.
In Saturday's game against UTPB, Rontrell Hills led USW's effort with a game high 27 points and eight rebounds. Josh Smith (4-5 FGs) and Emmanuel McNeil (eight points, nine rebounds, 4-5 FGs) combined to shoot 8-10 from the floor, while Juan Gay chipped in with 12 points. The Mustangs led until the 14:28 mark and the score at 50-49 in the 2nd half when the Falcons went on a 9-0 run. The Mustangs called time out to stop the run, and then chipped away at the lead to get it to single digits with 1:05 remaining but could not get any closer than 9 points as the final horn sounded. The Mustangs shot 51.4% for the game and out-rebounded the falcons 33-31 but had 25 turnovers where the Falcons scored 22 points.
The night prior to the UTPB game, the Mustangs avenged their season opening loss to Northern New Mexico College winning by a score of 72-61. The Mustangs led much of the game and held NNMC to 28.4% shooting and 17.2% from beyond the arc. The Mustangs built a early 10 point lead in the 2nd half, and the Eagles never could get any closer than 8 points, as USW made free-throws down the stretch to stop a 4 game losing streak. USW shot 42% from the field and out-rebounded the Eagles 62-46. The loss drops NNMC to 4-7 on the year, while the Mustangs moved to 2-5. The Mustangs had 4 players in double figures led by Emmanuel McNeil's 17 points, while Josh Harris, Rontrell Hills and Juan Gay chipped in with 16, 11, and 12 respectively.
With Saturday's near miss against UTPB the Mustangs have had chances to win each game they have played against NCAA DII teams only to hold leads late in the game or lose leads in the last 2:00 minutes of each game played, with the lone exception being at New Mexico Highlands. On Nov. 16 the Mustangs had Ft Lewis College on the ropes, leading by as many as 14 points in the second half, and held a four-point lead until 1:38 remaining before falling 65-63.
"I'm really proud of our effort as we wrap up our Pre-Season schedule. I thought physically our effort was great in each and every game this year," Mustang head coach Timm Dixon said. "We shot the ball well today and Friday, and we still put ourselves in position to win the game on the road, and we did win on Friday. If we could take better care of the basketball today, the outcome may have been different today. It was a hard-fought game with two great teams playing. Just to know that we're here on the road and we're going toe-to-toe with these NCAA DII teams late in the game feels good."
The Mustangs (2-5) move into Red River Conference Play with a upcoming road trip to Texas College and Paul Quinn on Thursday and Saturday. Out of the 5 losses this year, 4 have been to teams either ranked in the NAIA top 25 or in the receiving votes category.
"I am proud of them," Dixon said. "I am proud of how hard we've fought and how connected we are staying as a team. We're just growing, we're getting better, and this will be a very tough upcoming road trip against two good teams."
Although the Mustangs have came up short in their non-conference schedule, Dixon stressed the experiences from these non-conference games will be more meaningful as the season progresses.
"People forget we only have 1 returner who logged over 10 minutes per game last year.(RonQuis Lewis) We have some players that are talented and are just going to be playing better and giving us some more minutes as we move into conference play," Dixon said. "Even though we are 2-5, this is a heck of a lot better than beating somebody by 40 or 30 and being 7-1. We have been challenged this pre-season by great teams, and it is going to help us immensely through the rest of year and especially as we move into Red River Conference play."
