On Thursday morning, New Mexico Military Institute opened play at the Bruce King Invitational with a narrow 59-57 win over Socorro High School. With the win, the Colts improve to 4-2 on the year and advance to the semifinals of the tournament.

Q1

In the first eight minutes of the game both sides traded baskets early as they attempted to establish a flow to the game. As the Colts scored, Socorro would answer right back. In the first quarter, Mihail Parada added a pair of buckets while Cole Seidenberger added his own points to account for 8 of the 12 points for the Colts in a quarter that needed 12-12.

Q2

In a tightly contested contest the second period matched the first as both teams exchanged points. Siedenberger continued his great form for the first quarter as he doubled his points with another pair of buckets. With 2:23 left in the half, the Colts took a 21-20 lead with the help of four points by Diego Martinez and a three by Grantland Grant. However, like the first quarter, there wasn’t much separation between the two teams as the score ended 23-23 heading into halftime.

Q3

Coming out the halftime break, both offenses seemed to find another gear as the ball moved up and down the court with the teams trading baskets once again. With the help of a plethora of fowls drawn, the Colts were able to score eight of the 21 third-quarter points from the free throw line. As neither team could create separation, NMMI took a narrow 44-43 one-point lead with the help of the only made three in the quarter for the Colts by Carper Lackey who added three of his five total points to end the quarter.

Q4

In the final period the teams battled to take and maintain the lead as the score changed every time each team took the ball up the court. Leading the way for the Colts in the fourth quarter, Xavier Johnson rattled in a three late to give NMMI the 53-51 advantage as he scored five of his seven points in the final period.

The teams battled through the final minutes of the contest but the Colts got a couple of defensive stops to stop any chance of Socorro taking the lead late. Parada sealed the deal with a couple of buckets late to give NMMI a 59-57 win and a spot in the semifinals.

The Colts will return to action tomorrow afternoon at 3:30 p.m. MST in Moriarty, NM as they take on Estancia High School for a spot in Saturday’s final.