Warriors Finish Weekend Sweep of Univesity of the Southwest

The Nelson Warriors' Men's Basketball team (5-1) followed up their nail-biting thriller with a commanding 93-77 rout of the visiting University of the Southwest (NM) Mustangs (3-3), leaving no room for doubt in a dominant performance that thrilled the Saturday afternoon fans, allowing head coach Kole Ebert to showcase his roster's depth to the home crowd from start to finish.

"I am so proud of the guys," commented coach Ebert following the game. "We always tell our players to be ready because you may not know when your name will be called. Fortunately, I was able to empty the bench today, resting my starters for a tough California road trip coming up, and giving the bench some much needed experience."

The two teams jockeyed for a strong foothold early on, wrestling to an 6-6 tie implying that the game may be as tense as it was the night before. However, the Warriors were in no such mood to allow the Mustangs to hang around that long, and shifted into overdrive with a blistering 25-10 run to take a lightning fast 15-point lead, before ballooned the advantage to a commanding 26 points just before the half. The first half lead was powered by the offensive mastery of Orlando Gonzales, who dropping 13 points and dishing 3 assists in a mere 9 minutes of action.

The second half was once again all Nelson as they pushed the lead to a game-high 29 points midway through the half, allowing coach Ebert to empty the bench for the final ten minutes giving his reserves some valuable run. Among them was freshman guard Nicholas "Nico" Bojorquez making his season debut after recovering from a fractured foot, injecting fresh energy into the already electric atmosphere. Bojorquez directed the offense with precision and suave de vie for the remainder of the game, helping the Warriors maintain control and close out the blowout.

The Warriors shot a blistering 52.1% from the field and 41.9% from beyond the arc, while stabling the Mustangs to just 5-18 from beyond the arc and 33-69 from the field.

Veteran Gonzales led all scorers with 21 points, while snagging 3 rebounds, and dishing out 4 assists. Calvin Windley had an equally as productive game with 14, a game-high 10 boards, and 4 assists. Wyatt Mackay had 12 points and Zoe Holman finished with 10 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists, and 2 steals, while Chase Pavey led the bench unit with 15 points on 4-8 from 3.

The Mustangs were led by Ejay Scroggins' 17 points.

Up next for the Warriors will be at Westcliff University at 7pm on Monday, November 17, in Irvine, CA.

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