The Western New Mexico University Basketball were in grasp of capturing their first win of the season when they took on Benedictine-Mesa Redhawks Tuesday night for the second time this season. Unfortunately for WNMU, the game came down to the final seconds and Benedictine was able to score in the final seconds of the game to earn themselves the victory, 63-61.
BUM (4-9) was hot from the start of the game by jumping to a 8-0 lead, until WNMU’s Steven Loucks (Yuma, AZ/Cibola) came up with six straight points; four points from free throws and a mid-range jumper to make the score 8-6. Later in the half with 6:38 left, Adam Kesler (Silver City, NM/Silver) came off the bench and nailed a 3-pointer to put the Mustangs (0-4) within one, 19-18, but the Redhawks answered back with their own 3-pointer a few possessions later to make their lead 27-23. A lay-up by Benedictine took their lead to 31-23, but on the next possession for Western, Jordan Enriquez (El Paso, TX/Bel-Air) drilled a three with 3:05 left in the half. BUM ended the half with a decent lead 37-30.
In the first half, the Redhawks shot well hitting half of their shots with a 51%, while the Mustangs hit a 37%. However WNMU controlled BUM in bench points 20 to 8.
Benedictine would still own the lead 40-34 with 15:42 in the half, but the Western knocked down two 3-pointers in a row which were contributed from Willie McCray (Clovis, NM/Clovis/Westwind Prep Academy) and Brandon Tanter (Long Beach, CA/Los Angeles Prep) on a fast break that tied the lead 40-40. WNMU kept momentum going after a lay-up was hit by Loucks that earned them the first lead of the game 42-40. The lead extended to 48-42 for the Mustangs when McCray assisted a pass to Emery Range (Grand Rapids, MI/Willow Canyon) for a 3-pointer; however, the Redhawks put together a six point streak to take the lead back 50-48 after a fast break lay-up with 7:09 left to play. Both teams would tie and exchange leads until Western’s Range came up big with a steal and was fouled which he then hit two free throws to make their lead 58-55.
BUM did not go away so easily when they took lead back with 50 seconds after a couple of free throws and a lay-up that made the score 60-58. With 32 seconds left, Tanter went one for one at the free throw line to cut within one 60-59 for WNMU. After a timeout, Mustang’s Loucks missed a jumper but luckily, Range was there to rebound and score in the paint to regain the lead for the Mustangs 61-60 with 23 seconds left.
After another timeout, Redhawk’s Troy Conley took his first shot of the game and made a long 3-pointer with 14 seconds left on the clock to take the lead from the Mustangs 63-61. With the clock ticking down to the last second, Western’s Brandon Williams (Long Beach, CA/Los Angeles Prep) had to force a 3-point shot which missed, but fortunately Makhatar Fall (Morocco/Ecole Al Jabr) was there with the rebound but was fouled on the shot with three second left. The game came down to Fall hitting both his free throws but could not convert which gave Benedictine the victory 63-61.
Overall, BUM shot the better in field goal percentage 42.3% while WNMU went 33.9%. However, WNMU had only 11 turnovers to BUM’s 18. Both teams hit half of their free throws with WNMU hitting 61.9% to Bum’s 50%.
For the Mustangs, Loucks lead in points with a total of 13 followed by Range with 11. Fall led the team in rebounds with 8 next to Range with 6.
The Western New Mexico University basketball team will be away for their next game as they take on New Mexico Highlands this Saturday at 4 p.m.
