On Thursday night New Mexico Military Institute improved to 10-10 overall with a 69-62 win over Frank Phillips College in the Cahoon Armory Gym. With the win, the Broncos moved to 2-4 in conference play while Frank Phillips dropped to 1-5 in conference play with an even 10-10 overall record.
H1
After a scoreless opening minute of the contest, Taye Williams got his hot night start with a turnaround jumper to score the first points of the contest. A few possessions later, Carlos Mata recorded his lone field goal of the night with a dunk that left the rim rattling to give NMMI a 6-3 advantage with 17:23 on the clock.
From that point on, NMMI conducted a 15-2 run in the next six minutes. In the run Williams scored back-to-back buckets and Kelvin John finished the run with a monstrous slam off an assist by Mitchell Schooley. Joel Pinto got in on the action with a reverse layup to give NMMI a 25-10 lead before drilling a deep three to make it a 28-10 ballgame. Pinto slammed one down to score three straight field goals for NMMI, forcing a timeout by the visitors.
With a 20-point lead, the Broncos went on a quick 10-0 run that was capped off with a powerful slam by Kelvin John to take a 40-10 advantage with 3:05 remaining in the first half. Frank Phillips found some momentum as they closed out the half on a 13-2 run as they trailed 42-23 going into halftime.
H2
The second half was a different story. NMMI was forced to take a quick timeout after Frank Phillips opened the half on a 7-2 run. Following the timeout, the Broncos settled down as they grew their lead back to 16 points with a two by Taye Williams. Kelvin John gave the Broncos some energy with a huge dunk over three Plainsmen defenders.
However, the visitors battled their way back to a 55-46 ballgame after a deep three by Don Escobar. Down by nine Frank Phillips tried the comeback, but the Broncos would answer occasionally to keep their lead. Up by eight points with just over five minutes remaining, David Popa drilled a clutch three to give NMMI a double-digit lead 60-49.
The Broncos closed out the final minutes of the game on a 9-13 run, enough to secure the 69-62 win, the first home conference win of the season for the Broncos.
Head Coach Sean Schooley on back-to-back wins, "It feels great to come back home after the win over Midland on Monday and follow it up with another win, here on our home court," Schooley said. "We played great defense for the first half and in the second half it was not so great … We forced early turnovers, but I think in the second half they did a lot better protecting the ball, Schooley said. "There are some things to work on the next few days to prepare for Odessa, we have to beat the press and move the ball around to get better shots against the press. Tonight we struggled a little in the second half to do that but overall, super proud of the guys I can't complain with a win," Schooley said.
UP NEXT
The Broncos return to the court on Monday, January 26 when they host Odessa College in the Cahoon Armory Gym at 6:30 p.m.