The Eagles ran up and down the court and scored at will, and their best offensive productions of the entire season led to two lopsided victories over SAGU American Indian College on Jan. 24 and 25 at Eagle Memorial Gymnasium.
The 124-71 and 111-68 wins marked the only times this season the Northern New Mexico College mens basketball team had eclipsed the 100-point mark, and the entire team pitched in to the party and the efforts.
In the first contest of the two-game series, 12 of the 13 Eagles who suited up scored and six players reached double-digits — while another three players had nine apiece.
Damione Thomas shot 9-of-16 from the floor and led the scoring barrage with 18 points. Naquwan Solomon and David Chaloupka pitched in 16 points apiece and Ricardo Zambrano made four 3-pointers to equal 12 points.
As a team, Northern shot a blistering 55.2 percent from beyond the arc, draining 16-of-29 attempts. From the entire floor, the Eagles made 60.8 percent of their shots (48-of-79).
Game two of the series was much the same, as this time every single one the Eagles scored, with five players reaching double figures. Estevan Martinez carried the load with 19 points, while Victor Faria and Zambrano pitched in 12 apiece.
Northern head coach Ryan Cordova was pleased with the way his team shared the ball over both contests. The Eagles recorded 26 assists in each game against the American Indian College and recorded 63 and 54 points from the bench.
“It’s really nice to see the team play we are getting recently,” Cordova said. “We averaged over 20 assists the last two games and the ball was so hard for our opponent to guard.”
The Eagles have now won four consecutive games and will have some substantial time to prepare for their final two regular season games on Feb. 7 and 8 when they host Park University Gilbert. Northern defeated Park twice in Gilbert, Ariz. on Jan. 17 and 18, which included an 84-81 overtime win.
Cordova noted the production from the younger players as one of the keys to success over the past four victories.
“We are getting big play from our freshmen and they are beginning to play like upperclassmen,” he said. “The fact that we have six players on the dean’s list means we are able to learn things quickly and we are able to execute them on the floor.”
The Eagles’ growth and continual team effort is coming at the right time, as the Association of Independent Institutions Conference Tournament is just under a month away. The tournament will be held Feb. 28-March 1 at Lincoln College in Lincoln, Ill.
“We are really happy with the growth we have seen over the last four weeks,” Cordova said. “This is the time to grow as we head into conference tournament time.”