On Friday evening, New Mexico Military Institute improved to 3-7 with a 92-56 victory over the University of the Southwest JV. With back-to-back wins for the first time all year, NMMI looks to find momentum heading into conference play into January.
H1
Right out the gate, the Broncos flexed their muscles as they took a commanding 11-2 advantage to open the game as Mohamed Ngebeh tallied his first two points of the contest. Coming in off the bench, Joseph Thomas wasted no time finding his stroke as he rattled off a trio of deep threes to give the Broncos a 25-6 lead as he notched nine of his 15 total points.
The Mustangs attempted to stay in the game as they answered with a few points of their own. However, the Broncos would take a 25-point lead after David Popa finished off an assist by Ignacio Garcia to take a 39-14 lead. With just over three minutes left in the half, the Mustangs were able to fend off the Broncos as theory ended the half on a 8-8 run as Rivas nailed a jumper as the clock expired to make it a 47-20 ballgame in favor of the Broncos
H2
Early in the second half, the University of the Southwest JV squad was able to stay within reach as they battled, earning 12 offensive rebounds in the process. Anytime the Broncos would see the ball go through the net, the Mustangs would answer as they were able to cut the gap to 24 points as they trailed 64-40.
NMMI used the separation to apply pressure as they forced multiple turnovers, which allowed the Broncos to grow their lead back to 31 after Garcia tallied his only two points of the evening. With the lead, the Broncos did not settle as they continued to grow their lead to 36 after Siosiua Tu'akoi nailed a pair of free throws to give the home team their largest lead of not only the game but the season.
Up 36 points, the Broncos were able to sustain that momentum to close out the game as Ngebeh added a pair of free throws to give NMMI their highest scoring total of the season with a 92-56 win.
After back-to-back wins for the first time this season Head Coach Sean Schooley was pleased, "This one here was good because we were able to work on some things, our goal is to get 40+ rebounds and do that," Schooley said. However, he still believes there is more to work on, "we didn't do a very good job of keeping their big off the glass … we have to work on staying focused," Schooley said.
The Broncos return to action on Sunday, Dec. 8 as they host Trinidad State College at noon in the Cahoon Armory gym before hosting ABC Prep on Monday afternoon.