Big Second Half Guides MBB to Victory

NMJC men's basketball picked up their first conference win of the season 69-51 Friday afternoon against Western Texas.

The game was initially delayed from Thursday to Friday due to deteriorating weather conditions.

The Thunderbirds were locked in a tight battle in the first half. The T-Birds led the entire first half, but the Westerners came within one point down 23-22. NMJC ended the half on an 11-4 run which was aided by two triples from guard Armon Jarrard. 

NMJC continued on another impressive spurt to start the second half. The T-Birds went on a 10-2 run to push the lead to 16 points, 44-28. The Westerners made the same amount of buckets in the second half as the first half (8) but their shooting percentage suffered as they only shot 32% from the field. 

Sophomore wing Isaiah Alexander scored 12 points. Armon Jarrard reached double figures with 13 points and five rebounds. Forward Marquan Harris went 2-of-3 from the 3-point line and tied his career high of 11 points. Jayden Spearman grabbed a career-high nine rebounds while Jannoy Thomas added eight points in the 18-point win.

The T-Birds shot 25-for-69 (36.2%) from the field, 10-of-32 (31.3%) from the 3-point line, and 9-of-16 (56.3%) from the free throw line. The Thunderbirds forced 24 turnovers and held the Westerners to 39.0% from the field.

The T-Birds jump to 15-1 (1-1) on the season and will face No. 19 Odessa College on Monday, Jan. 13 at 7:30 p.m. CST in Hobbs, NM.