The New Mexico Military Institute Bronco men's basektball team dropped their home contest to the Odessa College Wranglers, 78-69.
The Broncos gave the No. 3 nationally-ranked Wranglers everything they could handle in the first half: NMMI built up an 11-point lead by the middle of the period, but let that double-digit margin slip to a 31-31 tie at halftime.
NMMI again took a slim lead at the start of the second stanza, and a pair of free throws by John Mapiou made it 46-42 with 13:05 left.
But Odessa stepped up their efforts on defense and went on a 19-2 run over the next four minutes. They took a 61-48 lead at the 9:29 mark - thanks a large part to turnovers created by their full-court press - and never looked back.
NMMI's Khaeb Wilson-Rouse was held to just three points in the first half, but managed to top the scoring list with a 19-point effort in the second.
His heroics weren't enough however, as the Institute committed 16 turnovers in the second half, which prevented NMMI from coming any closer than nine during the remainder of the contest.
Furaha Cadeaux de Dieu posted another solid game for the Broncos as well, earning his fourth double-double on the season with 10 points and 11 rebounds.
Mapiou and Jeremiah Barr dropped in double-figures in the points column with 12 and 11, respectively, and Nadrick Peat terrorized Wrangler inside-shot attempts with five blocks.
With the loss, NMMI drops to 6-10 overall and 5-8 in the Western Junior College Athletic Conference, tied with Frank Phillips College for fifth.
They've got one game left in the regular season, against Howard College at home on Thursday, April 1 at 6:30 PM MDT.
A win against Howard could force a four-way tie for fourth place in the conference.