Karen Boehler — For NMMI Sports Press
MIDLAND, Texas — After a long stretch with no games due to Covid and the weather — including the scheduled conference opener vs. South Plains Feb. 18 — the Bronco basketball team (2-2, 1-0) made it look easy Saturday with an 82-55 victory over Midland College.
"I don't know if you consider anything an easy win," said head coach Sean Schooley. "We needed that win more than an easy win. We really needed to play. He's got all freshmen. I've been there. I know how he feels. They'll be better the next time we play them here.
"This is going to be a very difficult year, playing on the road. But it shows we can win on the road and now we've just got to keep going game-by-game."
The bit of rust accumulated in two weeks off showed early.
"We played great defense," Schooley said. "Our offense was horrible in the beginning. We were 11-for-34 in the first half. Then we got up by 10 and we thought we had it in the bag. Then the next thing you know they're making some shots and we're just standing around."
Jeremiah Barr put the first points on the board with free throws early, but that was the last lead NMMI would have for a while.
The Chaparrals came back with a field goal to tie it at 2-2, then neither side could seem to get much of anything in as Midland added a point here and there, but mostly there was a lot of running up and down the court.
The Institute tied the game at 7-7 almost five minutes in, then the score went back and forth for the next five and it wasn't until 9:40 that Khaleb Wilson-Rouse tied it at 18-all with a free throw, then put NMMI up 19-18 on his second freebie.
The Broncos never let that lead get away, stretching the score to 26-20 on a Tarren Burrola 3-pointer and leading 36-31 at the half.
NMMI pulled ahead by nine on a Wilson-Rouse jumper three minutes in to the second half, but the young Chaps continued to keep it close.
"We got up by 10 and we thought we had it in the bag," Schooley said. "Then the next thing you know they're making some shots and we're just standing around. And it's difficult to maintain that type of intensity against a young team that is struggling to find their own identity. So we really challenged ourselves. I kept calling time outs to challenge them for small goals."
After Midland got to within 54-41 9:30 into the second half, the Broncos held their opponents scoreless for almost four minutes, racking up the points to stretch the lead to 72-41 on a trey by Furaha Cadeaux de Dieu at 6:42
Schooley called the victory pretty much a team effort, but credited Burrola, who scored 15 points off the bench including five 3s in a mere 10 minutes playing time.
"... The best college game of his life. He has no fear and no conscience and that's what we put him in for," Schooley said about Burrola. "He's learned how to move without the ball to get open because he's not a super athlete. So if he moves around and gets some shots, he's really going to help us."
Wilson-Rouse led the scoring with 25 points.
Barr and Cadeaux de Dieu each tallied 12 points, with Schooley saying Barr "played like a sophomore like he was supposed to," while Cadeaux de Dieu "came alive in the second half."
Wilson-Rouse and Cadeaux de Dieu led in rebounding with six each.
NMMI won't have to wait long to get back in action as they'll travel to Borger, Texas, Monday at 6:30 p.m. CST to face the 7-2, 1-2, Frank Phillips Plainsmen.
"They're good," Schooley said. "They're better than they were last year. Coach (Chris) Hackett had a rough year last year and I knew they'd be better and they are better."