WNMU men's basketball had hopes of finishing the Nanaloa Volcanoes Tournament with a winning record but torrid three point shooting early by the Saints of Maryville built a lead the Mustangs just couldn't overcome. Western fell to Maryville 70-58 to drop their season record to 1-3.
Maryville, from St. Louis MO, built a quick 9-0 lead 3 minutes into the game as several players began bombing three point shots. 15 minutes into the game, Maryville had taken and hit more three point shots than two point shots, firing at an unbelievable 64% rate. The Mustangs continued to battle and after trailing 16-4 started to chip away at the lead. Brelan Berry nailed a jumper and after the Mustang defense forced a turnover, Lucio Luttrell dropped a three point bomb to cut the lead to 7 with more than 13 minutes left in the half. But each time Western made a run at Maryvylle, the Saints had an answer.
Maryville cooled off from long range but still came up with a couple of key three pointers and rebuilt the lead to 13 with four minutes left in the first half. Luttrell then hit another three, Chad Carter followed up with a fade away jumper and Merle Branch hit a running one hand shot in the lane giving WNMU a 7-0 run to pull the Stangs within 6 points. The two teams would trade baskets over the last couple of minutes with the Saints again hitting a couple of long range bombs. Daryl Littleton would close out the Mustang scoring with a solid bucket in traffic to get the Mustangs within 8 at the break, 39-31.
MU started the second half the same way they started the game, hitting from way downtown pushing the lead to as many as 16 points in the first seven minutes of the second stanza. Western was not going away as Littleton hit a jumper followed by a pair of free throws from Luttrell, Carter also hit a pair from the charity stripe and Andy Solich would add a three to pull WNMU within six points 55-49 midway through the half.
Solich would cut the Saint lead to five with a baseline jumper, 58-53 with just 4:21 to play but that would be as close as the Mustangs would get. The Stangs had their opportunities, getting a couple of stops but they just couldn't get the rock to fall through the basket. With time running down, Western was forced to begin fouling MU and the Saints hit their free throws late, outscoring the purple and gold 12-5 in the final 3 minutes.
Chad Carter lead the Stangs in scoring with 15 while Luttrell added 10 as did Littleton. Littleton also lead the team in rebounding with six boards. Western New Mexico has nine days off before opening the home and RMAC seasons hosting Colorado School of Mines on Friday, November 30 followed by a tilt against Colorado Christian on Saturday December 1.
Mustangs cannot overcome early barrage
- Category: Sports
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