Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
MORIARTY — Neither a strong defensive effort all night nor a fourth quarter lead could lift the Portales boys basketball team to a win over Moriarty Tuesday night.
The Rams were unable to hang on to a six-point lead in the final quarter, as the Pintos stole a 51-50 win.
For Portales (12-10, 2-3), Tuesday marks its fourth loss in the last seven games.
"Our kids, I'll be honest with you, it was one of our best games all year," Rams coach Rickie McBroom said. "Our defense is so much better than it was earlier in the year, and it keeps getting better. In fact, defense is what kept us in this game."
The Rams held Moriarty (16-7, 4-2) to just six points in the opening period, and just 19 at half. Last time around, Portales gave up 70 points in a loss to the Pintos, but this time around defense ruled.
Moriarty had just 32 points and trailed by six to start the fourth quarter, but then the Pintos came alive with 19 points, including 7-of-9 from the foul line. In fact, the Pintos had just eight free throw attempts through three quarters.
Tyrese Dawson led the Rams with 22 points, while Caleb Edwards drilled five 3-pointers for Moriarty, as he led the Pintos with 17 points. The Rams will now return home Friday night to face Ruidoso, who lost to the Rams, 56-53, on Jan. 23.
"It's just as an important of a game as tonight's," McBroom explained. "All three of us are bunched together in the standings, and I'm glad to be at home to face Ruidoso. Being in front of our home crowd in a big game is a lot of energy for our players to feed off of."
