Warriors Tame Mustangs in Razor-Thin Victory

The Nelson Warriors' Men's Basketball team (4-1) edged out a thrilling 89-83 victory over the University of the Southwest (NM) Mustangs (3-2) in a razor-close battle that had the 150+ fans buzzing with excitement from tip to buzzer, proving once again that under head coach Kole Ebert, his squads always know how to deliver a clean-cut performance, no matter how close a shave the final score proves the game to have been.

"I would love to win games by 30 points every night," opined coach Ebert as he sat back taking in the totality of the evening. "But being able to pull out close ones like this, and overcome adversity by not letting an early deficit throw us off our game is something I like to see."

The Mustangs burst out hot, building an early 10-point lead with sharp shooting that left Nelson scrambling. But as fans have come to expect from Ebert's system, the Warriors never let their intensity fade, running off a seemingly patented 16-9 run to pull within three points midway through the first half. They finally snipped the lead away on a Calvin Windley layup with 5:57 remaining, grabbing their first advantage and setting the stage for a heavyweight slugfest.

For the remainder of the contest, both teams traded blows with offensive flair and defensive agility, neither able to land the knockout punch that each side so desperately hoped to achieve. Early in the second half, Nelson appeared to finally breakthrough, stretching their then-largest lead to 62-56 on a Windley free throw following Keron Bailey's acrobatic layup that had put them up five. Potentially feeling the sudden pressure that the visiting Mustangs felt to keep the score close, the Warriors began to play a bit loose, missing open shots and nearly turning the ball over, a stretch that had it not been for solid defensive rebounding could have let the lead slip away.

A timely timeout let the coaches comb through the issues and recompose the squad, who from there, buckled down, withstanding every jab from Southwest while refusing to relinquish their hard-earned lead.

Over the final stretch two Nelson veterans refused to let the lead slip away when Orlando Gonzales hit a massive three before Terrin Ross when on a 6-0 by himself, before the final two minutes when the Warriors were able to ice the game at the free-throw line with great aplomb, nailing their last five attempts to seal the deal.

Despite a subpar second-half shooting clip of just 41.7%, Nelson countered by clipping the Mustangs' wings from deep, holding them to a meager 2-of-9 from beyond the arc.

Ross led the warriors in both scoring and on the boards, finishing with 24 and 9, while Gonzales and Windley each finished with 17, the former snagging 6 rebounds with the latter had 7. Zoe Holman, who wowed the crowd pregame with a number of gravity-defying dunks, finished with 11 points and a career-high 7 steals.

Ejay Scrogins led all scorers with 27 points for the Mustangs, while running mate Donovan Holcombe dropped 26 while snagging 8 rebounds.

The two teams face off against one another again tomorrow, Saturday, November 14, and 2pm.

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