On Monday afternoon, New Mexico Military Institute improved to 4-8 on the year with a 97-82 win over ABC Prep. With the win, the Broncos end 2024 on a high note before jumping into conference play early January.

H1

Off the tip-off, ABC Prep didn't shy away as they held a 6-4 lead with a pair of quick threes by Dan Stevorson and Lukas Turner. NMMI couldn't quite find their rhythm early on as they trailed early in the half. Down two, David Popa made it a 10-10 ballgame with two of his 13 total points with 17 minutes left in the half.

From that point on it was all Broncos. NMMI took the lead with a deep three by Devon Carter to kick start the rest of the NMMI offensive display in the first half. ABC Prep was able to stick around and keep the game within single digits until the 6-minute mark of the first half.

With the help of 11 first-half free throw attempts, the Broncos jumped out to a 20 point lead after Taye Williams tallied two of his 17 total points to make it a 48-28 advantage. NMMI entered the half with a 50-30 lead.

H2

To open the second period, NMMI took their largest lead of the game and Ignacio Garcia added two of his 17 points. ABC Prep would fight back as they were able to cut the lead just 14 after a Williams turnover which led to an easy basket for ABC Prep and make it a 55-41 ballgame.

However the Broncos were able to establish some offensive rhythm as they had an answer for every point ABC Prep would score. Joseph Thomas added one of his three's with 14 minutes left in the game to give NMMI a 63-45 lead. Thomas tallied a game-high 21 points of just seven shots while shooting 6-for-7.

Three minutes later, Popa drilled a three off an assist by Garcia, to put the Broncos in the driving seat with a 75-58 lead with just over nine minutes remaining. Waiting to extend the game, ABC Prep applied the pressure as they were able to cut the lead to just 10 after Deakon Peterson nailed a three with just over a minute left in the game. During the final minute, the Broncos were able to defend their lead as they made 10 trips to the free throw in the second half. As ABC Prep tried to score during the final seconds, Justin Bramao secured the 97-82 win with a steal.

Coming off their highest point total of the season, Head Coach Sean Schooley was pleased "The scoring was good, we had 15 assists so we shared the ball … I thought offensively we were fine but on the defensive end is where we had problems," Schooley said. "We get into these lapses every game where we don't respond especially defensively and we have to figure that out," Schooley said.

The Broncos will return to action on Thursday, Jan. 2 at 6:00 pm as they host ABC Prep in the Cahoon Armory Gym for a pair of games.