Charging T-Birds

EDUARDO MIRANDA/NEWS-SUN Thunderbirds' guard Antonio Bridy attacks the rim and avoids the charge in the first quarter against NMMI Thursday night in Caster Activity Center. The Thunderbirds beat the Broncos 81-59.

  It came down to defense and smart offense for the New Mexico Junior College men's bas-a over New Mexico Military Institute Thursday night in Caster Activity Center. The Thunderbirds defeated the Broncos 81-59 in Western Junior College Athletic Conference play. NMJC improves to 17-7 overall and 7-3 in the conference, keeping the Thunderbirds in third place.

The Thunderbirds led from the first buzzer to the last buzzer. NMJC played its offense from the get-go, looking to get into the paint and score close to the rim. The Thunderbirds finished with 34 points in the paint, which in turn created space for the Thunderbird shooter that made the NMMI defense pay for packing the middle. NMJC hit seven threes and shot 31.8 percent from the field for the game. Matthew Strange who got the starting nod, scored 18 points on 5 for 10 shooting from downtown and grabbed eight boards. Keaton Harvey had 13 points and eight boards, Gideon George and Antonio Bridy, who started, both had 10 points. Bridy had five assists to lead the Thunderbirds. Matt Treacy and Toug Dol both came off the bench for 10 points each.

"I was proud of our guys," Thunderbird head coach Luke Adams said. "Matthew Strange shoot the ball really well. It was a testament on how hard he works. He shots 500 a day and spends the most time in the gym. I had a saying growing up, the harder you work the luckier you get.

That was what I was thinking of as the game was going on."

The Thunderbirds did not need much luck in defeating the Broncos Thursday night. They played to their strength using their length and height to attack the paint. The first seven shots for NMJC where all in the paint, and when NMMI made the adjustment to stuff the paint, the Thunderbirds began to attack the paint and pass out to the open shooters in the corners. The three-point shooting was effective in punishing NMMI for packing the paint, and forcing the Broncos to open their zone defense up. Thunderbird's defense made the night difficult for NMMI, as they missed plenty of easy shoots in the paint and in transition. The defense never allowed the visitors to ever get comfortable in its offensive scheme. That led to NMJC going into the half with a 50-28 lead.

"They where trying to deny and change the pace of the game," Adams said of NMMI's defense. "We had to put some pressure on them, cause most teams don't play us that way. I was pleased to see our guys respond to it. And that's what you have to do when they are denying you like that, you have to get into the paint and make plays. Our guys did that."

The second half saw the Thunderbirds come out and continue to attack the paint. They struggled in hitting threes like they did in the first, but the Thunderbirds did a great job of never falling in love with the shot. Instead they continued to take them when wide open and not take forced three pointers. They also knew when to run and when to slow down the pace and go into their halfcourt offense. And that caused problems for NMMI, as the Thunderbirds showed both offensive styles, which allowed them to extend their lead to 30 points in the second quarter. NMMI did make a run but it came when Adams began to pull his starters and play his second unit. The second unit played well enough, continued to attack the paint but more in the halfcourt offense to run the clock. He called the second unit contribution important as the NMJC continues to fight for an at-large bid to the NJCAA tourney.

"It was huge," he said. "We always try to get our guys better. I thought our guys responded well. We have really good players, and we are talented. Everyone on our roster is a college basketball player. Sometimes they don't always get to show it."

The Thunderbirds will be on the road for their next game against Howard College in Big Springs, Texas. The Thunderbirds will look to avoid stumbling to a Howard team looking to make a jump in the WJCAC standing.

"Right now for us the most important game is Howard College," Adams said. "And that is the one we can control and our guys understand that. We are taking it one game at a time and they are our biggest focus."