T-Birds come up clutch, beat Western Texas

SNYDER, Texas — It appeared the New Mexico Junior College men's basketball team was going to make the trip back to Hobbs with a sinking feeling after Western Texas' Xavier Ledet hit a go-ahead 3-pointer with 1.5 seconds left to give the Westerners a 62-61 lead.

But the Thunderbirds, like the six games before, weren't going to be denied – granted this one had a few more theatrics.

A perfect pass from the far baseline to the sideline with 1.1 seconds left and a quick timeout set up a turnaround Malique Trent 3-pointer at the buzzer to give NMJC a thrilling 64-62 victory Thursday.

Trent was the second option on the play, but he opened up after a screen for a possible lob to Cullen Russo, got the ball and calmly swished the game winner.

"I set a back screen for Cullen (Russo) and really I was the second option," Trent said. "The ball came to me, I noticed I was open and I turned around and shot it. When I saw it was lined up, I knew it was going in."

The crucial play before the Trent shot was Russo throwing a bullet pass with 1.5 seconds left to the sideline where Tyler Blount caught it without bobbling it (which was key so time wouldn't elapse) and the T-Birds (19-6, 8-3) quickly called timeout with 1.1 left.

"It's a play we work on all year long that the guys joke about wondering if we'll ever use it," NMJC coach James Miller said. "In college, you can't advance the ball on a timeout so you need a play like that to have shot. That was big."

The second half was a game of runs as NMJC rallied from a 39-33 deficit early in the half thanks to three straight 3-pointers (two by Trent, one by Rene Esparza) to make it 42-39 NMJC with 13:31 left.

The T-Birds led 54-46 with less than seven minutes left when Western Texas (11-12, 2-9) went on an 8-0 run to tie the game 54-54 with 4:51 left.

NMJC trailed 59-57 with less than two minutes left in the game when Trent scored as he was fouled with 1:09 remaining. Trent sank the free throw to make it 60-59.

A Randy Haynes free throw with 17.6 seconds left increased the lead to two before Ledet sank the 3-pointer with 1.5 seconds left to give the Westerners a short-lived lead.

Trent led NMJC with 27 points, going 6-for-11 from 3-point range while adding eight rebounds and three steals. Russo had 13 points and eight rebounds while Esparza had eight points and four assists.

Ledet led Western Texas with 20 points.

NMJC hosts South Plains on Monday.