Karen Boehler — For NMMI Sports Press

BIG SPRING, Texas — Watching the game and looking at the stats afterwards, it looked like the Broncos' inability to stop Howards' outside shooting was the difference in a close 64-57 loss in Big Spring Thursday.

But coach Sean Schooley said that wasn't the problem. It's something much more fundamental.

"It was lack of sophomore leadership on this team," he said. "We have some attitudes that are going to have to change because we're losing by seven to everybody. And we're very capable. We have some players who have decided they really don't want to listen much. And it shows. They don't trust each other."

For much of the first half, the teams traded leads continually, with neither side ever holding more than a three-point lead, and the Hawks racking up most of their points from the 3-point line. After NMMI closed the gap to one on a trey by freshman Dylan Knight with 3:39 remaining, Howard turned things around with a 7-1 run to lead 33-27 at the half.

And the Institute never led in the second half, although they again got close, cutting two 11-point Hawk leads down to just three before again letting Howard go up by seven.

"People aren't just beating us down because they're more athletic than us. Even Odessa wasn't more athletic than us. Nobody has been," Schooley said. "My assistants last year put together a team that's extremely talented, but there seems to be a little bit of a disconnect right now.

"When you only have three assists for the game, that can tell you we're not doing the things we're supposed to as a team, and that requires sophomore leadership."

In other stats, the Broncos did improve at the charity stripe, going 13-for-18 for the night. On points, three sophomores led the way, with Khaleb Wilson-Rouse tying for high-point individual with Hawk Noah Mason with 15 points; and Jeremiah Barr tallying 13 and Furaha Cadeaux de Dieu 10.

Without naming any one in particular, Schooley said one freshman "played extremely hard," and that could be Knight, who came off the bench to tally eight points on two 3s and a layup. He saw 16 minutes of playing time.

Another freshman, Luis Riascos Varon, started for NMMI, getting 19 minutes of playing time.

Assuming Covid protocols don't change again, the Broncos will play most of their remaining games at home, and Schooley said the team could look a little different on their home court.

"We're going to see either a different team attitude-wise, or you're going to see a whole lot of other players have a lot more minutes," he said. "Because this is all about learning."