NMMI Sports Press
Down by 14 with just 6:31 left to play in the game, the New Mexico Military Institute Bronco basketball team made an awesome comeback that fell just short against visiting South Plains College, 78-75.
The top four teams in the WJCAC, based on conference records, get an invite to the Region V Postseason Tournament, and the Texans came into the Cahoon Armory gymnasium as the Western Junior College Athletic Conference's second-place squad with an 8-3 conference record. NMMI was in fifth with a 5-6 conference mark, and needed the win to help catch up to two teams tied for third – Howard and Clarendon – with 7-4 records.
SPC held the lead for almost the entire game; they trailed NMMI just once and by a single point after Bronco point guard Jordyn Owens got a steal, dished it off to Matt Brown, who got the ball into Rosel Hurley on the fast break for the easy bucket. That put NMMI up 14-13 with 13:54 left to play in the first half.
But the Texans slowly built as much as an eight point lead, thanks in large part to the three-point shooting of Ben Perez, who was 6 for 9 from behind the arc with 18 points in the first half.
The Broncs did manage to cut that lead to six, 35-29, before entering the locker room.
In the second half, NMMI had found an answer for Perez' outside shooting – he had just one more point in the game before fouling out – but the Texans' lead ballooned to 17 points, 55-38 with 12:33 remaining. This time the threat was SPC's Deshawn Corprew who took it to the hoop off the dribble-drive, scoring all 21 of his game-high points in the second period.
Yet the Broncos fought back and cut the Texan lead to single digits, 65-56, mostly thanks to free-throws by guards Owens and Matt Brown.
NMMI still trailed by nine, 76-67, with 2:02 left on the clock. Jaylen Williams then nailed a three to make it 76-70. After an SPC turnover, Owens drained another shot from behind the arc to make it 76-73 with 41 seconds remaining. SPC got back two points after making the back-end of a pair of double-bonus free throws, 77-73, then 78-73. NMMI's final two points came on an offensive rebound and put back by Hurley after a failed three-point shot.
Four Broncos finished with double figures in scoring: Owens with a season-high 23, Williams with 18, Atem Bior with 14 (along with 12 rebounds for the double-double), and Hurley with 13.
"I thought we came out a bit flat, unfortunately," said head Bronco coach Ralph Davis. "Also, for some reason this year, we haven't been able to hit too many shots at our own house - we travel much better. But our guys fought until the end, they really did. I'm proud of the way we came back. We obviously had a shot to tie it up with a last-second shot. So the talent's there. But we've got to start games and finish games. Now we've put our backs against the wall, as far as trying to reach our ultimate goal, but it's still obtainable. Definitely some work to do - we've just got to play a little harder, earlier."
With the loss NMMI moves to 15-11 overall and 5-7 in the WJCAC. They've got four conference games remaining – two at home – to try and catch up and regain fourth place in the WJCAC. Their next game will be on the road at Midland on Thursday, Feb. 15. The next home game will be at on President's Day, Monday, Feb. 19 against Frank Phillips at 7:30 P.M.
