NMMI Sports Press
After being road warriors to start the season with a 2-2 mark, the New Mexico Military Institute Colt basketball team finally got a game at home, and made the most of their debut in the Godfrey Athletic Center gym, clipping the Falcons 71-45.
The Institute started with the first five points in the game, sophomore Jaikayo Brown placing the initial marks on the scoreboard with a pair of free-throws.
That lead expanded to a 14-2 run before half of the first period was over, although Loving did manage a bit of a comeback, making it a 16-9 ballgame going into the second.
But the Colts continued to gallop past the Falcon defense before halftime. They hit nine of 14 shots from the field, with all but one of those attempts coming from inside the paint, resulting in 29 points in the eight-minute period, and a 45-20 edge heading into the locker room.
The third period saw more of the same, with the Colts taking the quarter 20-9. Loving tried their full-court trap, but NMMI's veteran guards had little trouble getting the ball upcourt an into their offense.
The Falcons outscored the Colts in the final period, 19-6, but by then head Colt coach Connor Williamson had gone deep into his bench.
"We had played Loving about a week ago and had three games of experience since - I think we learned a lot from that," said coach Williamson, refering to their matches in last weekend's tournament at Hot Springs. "We had some big scorers tonight," continued the coach. "Daniel [Xibille] had 21, Ricardo [Mata] had 15, and our freshman, Ricardo [Soto] had 14. But it was definitely a team effort; everybody played hard."
Williamson was also pleased with his team's ball control and unselfish play: NMMI had just 15 turnovers compared to 20 assists.
"Keeping that turnover-to-assist ratio as high as possible is something we preach every day, so it's good to see positive results. But we've got continue to improve," finished Williamson.
With the win, NMMI improves to 3-2 on the season. Their next contest won't be until after the semester break when they'll again get the home court against Ruidoso in a 5:30 PM tip-off on Jan. 11.