Karen Boehler — For NMMI Sports Press

LEVELLAND, Texas — Playing as the home team on the road at South Plains College in Levelland, Texas, Tuesday, the Bronco basketball team played hard, but couldn't overcome a trio of missteps that led them to a 77-70 loss to Otero Junior College.

"It was a very, very close game," said head coach Sean Schooley. "It could have gone either way, despite the things we did to ourselves. We had every opportunity to win, just like they did."

NMMI (1-20 dominated in the early minutes, going up 4-0 on a series of steals on defense, then leading 12-8 as Otero shot well from the inside, but couldn't hit from beyond the arc. But then, two unanswered treys and a pair of field goals gave the Rattlers a slim lead they would hold to halftime, 32-29.

The Broncos tied it late in the half of 3-pointers by Jeremiah Barr and Dylan Knight, but then Otero hit well from the free-throw line to take the halftime lead.

And while the Rattlers went 18-for-28 from the charity stripe, free throws were one of NMMI's big problems Tuesday.

"When you go 15-of-33, and you lose by seven, and you miss 18 free throws, you just are making it impossible to win against good teams," Schooley said. "And they were a good team. Otero, there was nothing wrong with them. They could shoot it."

The score continued to go back and forth in the second quarter, with NMMI going up on an 18-10 run but Otero sealing the victory on a late 12-4 run.

Another negative, Schooley said, was 16 Bronco turnovers.

"That's just a sign of not playing enough," he said. "Right now we should be 14 games into the season. We're at our third. It's hard because these things should have been corrected. We didn't rebound exceptionally well, either. We could do a better job. At times we rebounded really hard, we just didn't do it on a consistent basis."

But there were good signs.

One team goal was to hold the 3-0 Rattlers to 70-some points, after they had scored 96 and 91 points in their first two games.

They did that.

Plus, the Broncos got some early points off Otero turnovers and big runs back down the court.

"I thought our defense really improved from the last game," Schooley said. "They really work hard enough defensively to keep themselves in ballgames, it's just the offensive side of it is going to take a bit."

Three players that stood out included Barr, who led with 23 points including a pair of treys — "He really played an outstanding game," the coach said — and John Mapiou, who had 13 points. 

"He played hard; played great defense," Schooley said. "But he was kind of in foul trouble early, so he didn't play as many minutes as we needed him too."

Schooley also praised Furaha Cadea de Dieu.

"I thought the big fella, before he rolled his ankle, was playing at such a high level."

All three are sophomores, who, Schooley said, did what was expected of them. 

"The freshmen played like freshmen," he added. "They had some good moments then they had some bone-head plays that freshmen do. But it really wasn't for a lack of effort. I think we're going to be OK. It's just going to be a rough go and we've got to change a lot of things in a short time."

Freshman Dylan Knight was the only other Bronco in double figures with 10 points, and the team now has four days to correct their mistakes before heading to Trinidad State Junior College on Sunday, then back to Texas Monday to open conference play against Clarendon.