ESPANOLA, NM---The Mustang Basketball program came into Friday's nights game 1-0 after defeating host school Northern New Mexico on Thursday night. Friday's matchup put the Mustangs up against the Okalahoma City University Stars, a team who is receiving votes nationally for the top 25 rankings. The Mustangs fell 1 basket short of the early season upset as they lost 70-68. 

" This was a tough loss for us after fighting and competing the entire game.  The guys locked in defensively for us and competed at a high level against a very good Oklahoma City team.  They are receiving votes in the Coaches Top 25 Poll  for a reason.  They are big, have quick guards and can shoot it.  I thought we did a great job managing all of the talent they have, just some mistakes in the last few possessions hurt us down the stretch.  We had a great look in our last possession to tie the game but the ball didn't bounce our way.  You can take a lot of positives from a loss like this.  We proved to ourselves we can compete at a high level if we buy in to playing tough defense for 40 minutes." said Head Coach Cory Hitchcock. 

The Mustangs held close with the Stars who were 22-11 last season. USW had two in double-figures: Rontrell Hills and Joshua Harris. Hills had 16 points, 3 assists, 3 rebounds and 2 steals on the evening. Harris led the team in scoring with 17 points on 6-10 shooting. The senior was 5-7 from the FT line and grabbed 4 rebounds and dished out 3 assists. 


The Mustangs travel to Fort Worth on Halloween as they take on Texas Wesleyan at 2:00 PM MST.