Points were certainly at a premium all night long and although the Western New Mexico University men’s basketball team held South Dakota School of Mines to the lowest point total of any team this season, the Hardrockers were just able to squeak out the 53-47 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference victory Friday night.
While WNMU (0-9, 0-4 RMAC) limited South Dakota Mines (4-4, 3-1 RMAC) to just 53 points, the Mustangs were only able to shoot 25 percent (14-56) from the field and actually shot better from three point range hitting 6-19 (31.6).
Nine players tallied at least a point for the Mustangs with seven posting five points or more. Steven Loucks and Willie McCray led the way with seven points apiece, while Brandon Tanter, Jordan Enriquez and Brandon Williams tallied six apiece and Emery Range and Makhtar Fall chipped in five points.
Loucks gave WNMU the lead out of the gate with a layup a minute in. With the game knotted at nine, the Hardrockers pulled away a little bit going on a 7-0 run for the 16-9 lead near the midway point of the first half.
South Dakota Mines had the lead at their largest of the night of eight at 20-12 with 8:23 to play before halftime when WNMU would begin to tighten things up. A Williams layup with just over a minute to go in the opening half pushed WNMU back in front at 27-25 as he hit the foul shot to complete the three-point-play. South Dakota Mines closed the half on a 4-0 run to take a 29-27 lead into the locker room.
Adam Kesler brought the Mustangs to within one nearly seven minutes into the second half when he split a pair from the line leaving the Hardrockers with the 31-30 advantage. Although WNMU wasn’t able to regain the lead the rest of the way, they came close several times. A few minutes later, Enriquez drilled a three-pointer that had the Mustangs right back to within a point at 37-36 near the midway point of the second stanza.
Following a spurt by the Hardrockers that lifted their advantage back out to seven, WNMU worked their way back to within two with 2:41 to play on a free throw by Loucks.
After the teams traded points with McCray hitting two from the line to keep the deficit at two with 1:39 to play, WNMU would have a chance on their next possession to take the lead. With the Hardrockers in the bonus, a missed free throw on the front end of a one-and-one allowed the Mustangs a chance to tie or take the lead.
They elected to try and take the lead with a three-point attempt by McCray that just missed and South Dakota Mines collected the rebound and scored a layup on the other end to move the lead to four with 40 seconds to play. Another failed three point attempt on the next trip down that rattled out by Tanter would all but seal the victory as the Hardrockers grabbed the rebound and split the foul shots going on to take the victory.
While the scoring was evenly distributed for the Mustangs, so was the rebounding with five pulling down at least five rebounds. Range led the way with seven. Loucks posted two blocks and Williams had three steals.
Marco Pascolo paced the Hardrockers with 12 points and added a double-double with 10 rebounds. South Dakota Mines had three players reach double-figures including Konor Kulas and Jaisean Jackson added 11 points apiece. South Dakota Mines made 21-50 (42) from the field, but were just 3-13 (23.1) from three point range and went 8-15 (53.3) from the charity stripe.
The Mustangs continue to improve at the foul line making 13-17 (76.5). They also held a solid advantage on points off turnovers (12-4)