HOBBS, NM---The Mustang Basketball program welcomed Northern New Mexico to 'The Dox' on Thursday night in a non-conference matchup. This is the 2nd meeting between these two teams as the Mustangs won the first meeting on Opening Night 83-74. 

Despite being down 4 at the half, the Mustangs stormed back in the 2nd half to take the 84-78 victory over the Eagles. USW is now 3-3 on the season with OPSU coming in on Saturday afternoon for another early season rematch. 

"I'm proud of the way the guys battled back. The 1st half I thought we came out flat, no energy and our defense was terrible. We gave up 41 points in the 1st half which is a season high for us. I was upset at halftime and let the guys know how I felt. The guys came out of the half and really turned it up. We forced 14 turnovers and did a better job of running our offense and rebounding" said Head Coach Cory Hitchcock after the victory on Thursday night. 

The Mustangs were led by 3 captains in the scoring department. Emmanuel McNeil led all scorers with 23 points on 10-17 shooting. The junior also had 6 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 steals. Senior Joshua Harris had 21 points on 8-10 shooting with 5 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 blocks and 1 steal. Senior Akeem Black got rolling with 14 points on 4-8 shooting including 5-8 from the FT line. Coach Hitchcock was happy with the way Black played especially after a rough start to the season for him. "He let the game come to him. He presses at times and tries to force things that aren't there. He took early open looks and watched the ball go through the net, which game him some confidence." 

The Mustangs allowed 41 points in the 1st half which is a season high for them defensively. But with some adjustments at halftime, the Mustangs held the Eagles to 37 second half points. Coach Hitchcock knows that they are going to have to lean on their defense to be successful and feels that the guys understand that they are a tough team to play when they play defense. "In the 1st half we didn't play defense, we got down. Our intensity picked up in the 2nd half and we took the lead. They hit some late 3's to close the gap. But I can't be upset the way we played because they bounced back and finished the game like I wanted them to." said Hitchcock on the Mustangs stingy 2nd half defense. 

USW is hosting Oklahoma Panhandle State on Saturday afternoon with tip-off scheduled for 3:00 PM MST. The game will be live streamed through our Mustang TV. 

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