Westerners coast to 99-82 win over NMMI

Western Texas College used a 16-4 second half run to build a 27-point lead against New Mexico Military Institute (NMMI) on Monday.
The Westerners (14-11, 5-6) Western Junior College Athletic Conference) held off a late rally to claim a 99-82 conference win.
WTC led by 15 points at halftime and used the early second-half run to increase its advantage. However, NMMI took advantage of poor shooting to cut the deficit to 11 points.
“We played with great intensity during that run,” Westerner head coach Larren Silver said. “Shannon James did a good job of pushing the ball down the floor. We increased our lead by 10 points during the first 90 seconds of the second half.”
The momentum switched when NMMI went on a 16-1 run to cut the deficit to 66-54 midway through the second half.
“We had a lull during that period of time,” Silver said. “We lost some of our concentration. NMMI has a couple of good scorers and did a good job of pushing the ball up and down the court. We didn’t do a good job of getting back on defense.”
Shane Johnson scored 20 points for WTC while Curtiss Anderson and Xavier Ledet each had 19 points. Jason Nunez added 12 points and James scored 10 points.
“We had five players in double figures again, which is good,” Silver said. “Maybe we like to do that on Mondays. We did the same thing last Monday when we defeated New Mexico Junior College at home.”
Chancellor Ellis led the Broncos with 23 points while Nehemiah Mabson had 15. DeMarco Enoch and Taylor Breck scored 14 and 13 points, respectively.
“We had another good game at home and needed the win,” Silver said. “We just shot under 50 percent on 3-pointers (9-of-19, 47.4 percent). When we shoot 3-pointers that well, we have a good chance to win.”
The Westerners took the lead for good on a Nunez field goals early in the first half. WTC later went on an 18-8 run to build a 30-19 lead and led 49-34 at halftime.
WTC will play at Midland College at 7:30 p.m. Thursday.
“We will go to Midland and need another win,” Silver said. “We probably need to get to 10 wins to qualify for the regional tournament. Whatever happens, I liked the way the team improved since the end of December.”
New Mexico Military Institute scorers — Chancellor Ellis 23, Nehemiah Mabson 15, DeMarco Enoch 14, Taylor Breck 13, Emmanuel Kema 8, Christian Marks 6, Chaz Lassiter 2, Rashad Wattie 2.
WTC scorers — Shane Johnson 20, Curtiss Anderson 19, Xavier Ledet 19, Jason Nunez 12, Shannon James 10, Christian Hewitt 5, Kolbe Kinghorn 4, Jeffrey Uju 4, Traylin Prejean 4, Tavon Ngangum 2.
WTC statistics — Jeffrey Uju 6 rebounds, 2 assists; Shannon James 4 rebounds, 6 assists, 3 steals; Xavier Ledet 15 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 steal; Shane Johnson 2 assists, 1 steal; Curtiss Anderson 8 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 blocked shot; Christian Hewitt 2 rebounds; Kolbe Kinghorn 1 rebound, 1 assist; Jason Nunez 1 steal; Tavon Ngangum 1 rebound; Traylin Prejean 4 rebounds.