ALBUQUERQUE- The New Mexico Lobos returned home for a feast week matchup against reigning SWAC Conference Tournament Champions Alabama State on Thursday. After a respectable 1-1 outing at the Hall of Fame Classic in Kansas City last week, Eric Olen’s squad returned home to defend their home court against a dangerous Hornets squad before the holiday break.
With the current reputation of Mountain West teams on the unfavorable end of home upsets across non-conference play. No visiting team can be underestimated this season. The Lobos may have done just that on Wednesday night, letting Alabama State’s 17+ PPG scoring duo get hot early & keep fans on the edge of their seats throughout.
Freshman big Tomislav Buljan helped to open New Mexico’s scoring with a one-and-one two-handed slam at the 16th minute mark. The Lobos began a constant theme of the night of struggling to keep the Hornet’s scoring in check while failing to capitalize on the easy ones early.
Alabama State’s Tyler Byrd gave the Hornets their fifth triple of the night early on, to take the 18-8 lead with 13:30 left in the first half. As fans began to sweat a bit inside the Pit, freshman Uriah Tenette eased their minds with New Mexico’s first three pointer of the night to bring the Lobos within seven (18-11, 12:50 mark).
After taking a hit to the face, the Prescott, AZ native returned to the floor quickly with a bloody nose & followed up with a two handed drive & slam, which gave New Mexico the lead.
That stopped a hornet scoring run & breathed some energy back into the Pit crowd.
Alabama State’s transfer guard Asjon Anderson silenced the Lobo crowd with another corner dagger to take the lead back (23-21) at the 9:41 mark.As the Lobos tied the game 23-23, Micah Simpson added yet another Hornet three to take back the lead. Freshman forward R’Chaun King knocked down two free throws to extend that lead 28-23 at the 8th minute mark.
Iowa State transfer JT rock got his second three point field goal of the season to bring the Lobos to within four at the bottom of the 7th minute mark.
Possessions later a pair of Deyton Albury free throws brought New Mexico back to within two. When Anderson broke the double-digit scoring seal with a drive to the hoop to broaden the Hornet lead 32-28 with 5:44 to go in the first half.
Both squads exchanged some free throw line trips over the next few minutes. And after some makes, Alabama State led their hosts 37-30 with 4:42 left in the first half.
Lobo D-II transfer Luke Haupt continued that trend with another trip to the charity stripe (1-2) after plenty of dribble drive attempts failed to yield a field goal. On the other end, a beautiful tear drop runner by Simpson was followed by a three point dagger. Extending the Lobo deficit to eleven (42-31) with 3:34 left in the first half.
Antonio Chol gained his first three-pointer of the night at the three minute mark to bring New Mexico within ten.Only to be one-up’d by yet another Anderson three on the opposite end. A Chris Howell turnover off of the inbound led to a Hornet timeout with 1:19 left to go in the half.
Chol hit the mid-range jumper before the half 49-38, when Anderson answered with a mid-range jumper of his own to extend the lead to 51-38 before the end of the half.
For a team metrically known for their defensive dominance, the Lobos did not have an answer for Alabama State’s fast paced, three-point heavy offense in the first half.
The Lobos fell victim to some transition points off of turnovers early on. Which later turned into some Hornet’s flat out knocking down shots from all areas on the floor. The Alabama State duo of Simpson and Anderson combined for 30 of Alabama State’s 51 first half points with 15 points a piece before the half.
Tony Madlock’s team shot 19-31-(61%) from the floor, 9-14-64% from deep and a mere 4/4 from the free throw line.
Not to mention edging the Lobos with 14 points off of turnovers (14-4) and 13 points off of fast break points in the first half (13-3)
Eric Olen’s team shot 11-27 (41%) from the floor, just 4-12 from deep (33%) & made up for it shooting 12-16 (75%) from the free throw line.
The second half started with much of the same, Alabama State scoring & New Mexico doing their best to keep up. An in the lane dunk by Albury, followed by Jake Hall’s second made three pointer helped shrink the Hornet’s double-digit lead.
That small bit of momentum was short lived, as that lead was extended by the red hot Anderson with back-to-back threes within a minute of play to extend that lead to 60-45 with 16:45 left in the game.
As New Mexico struggled for buckets, Tenette knocked down a beautiful open three to bring the deficit back to within ten (62-52) just under the 15th minute mark. And after a pair of Anderson free throws, Lobo Freshman Jake Hall knocked down another three to bring the deficit under double-digits for the first time in the second-half.
A pair of three point conversion plays by each side leveled things. When a hail mary three by Anderson, that looked desperate, gave him his 26th point of the game.
Jake Hall answered with a three of his own to keep the deficit to single digits (70-61). While Simpson knocked down an NBA-Range dagger from deep to silence the Lobo crowd (73-64, 10:35 left).
Hall didn’t waiver, and began a hot streak that likely won the Lobos the game. Knocking down his 5th triple of the game on the other end, bringing New Mexico to within eight (75-68) as they approached the ten minute mark.
Hall kept firing & brought the Lobos to within three 75-72, with 8:38 left to go in the game, his 6th triple of the night. It was a shot that brought New Mexico fans out of their seats as well as caused the Hornet coaching staff to use a timeout.
After an ensuing defensive stop, Hall switched things up & made a trip to the free throw line to knock down all three shots of a three point opportunity.
Logging his first points that weren’t earned beyond the 3-point line all night. This tied things up (75 a piece) at the eight minute mark.
Tomislav Buljan, the freshman double-double machine, capped the defensive stop with a defensive rebound before the media timeout. A Chol three pointer marked the first New Mexico lead (78-77) since the Lobos led 21-20 in the first half.
Alabama State knocked down back-to-back shots to regain their lead 81-78 with five minutes left to go in the game.
The freshmen stayed locked in, with Tenette’s pick pocket move & slam at the 4:06 minute mark bringing the game to within one, 83-82. Marking a defensive stop that was much needed in the closing minutes of the game.
Deyton Allbury, who quietly notched 18 points off of 12-14 free throw shooting, added two more to give the Lobos back the lead again 84-83. The graduate transfer followed up with a steal and layup to add to the biggest New Mexico lead of the game at 86-83 with 2:29 left in the game.
If fans inside the Pit were antsy in the waning minutes, Jake Hall assured them it would be okay with yet another triple to give the Lobos the 89-83 lead with 1:49 left in the game.
The home team ended things with some free throw makes, but suffered a late blow as leading scorer and rebounder Tomislav Buljan went to the bench with 14.0 seconds left to go with an apparent ankle injury.
It was a blotch on a challenging 93-87 comeback win over Alabama State in the Pit. The second largest home rally in program history.
Players of the Game:
Alabama State: Asjon Anderson-Senior Guard-30 points, 4 assist & 4 rebounds on 9-20 shooting, 6-12 from deep & 6-6 FTs in 35 minutes
New Mexico: Jake Hall-Freshman Guard-24 points on 7-12 shooting (7-12 3FG), 3-3 FT in 31 minutes
The Lobos definitely needed another win after their 1-1 performance in Kansas City last week. This not only showed a will to compete in comeback victories but also helped build a winning momentum during feast week.
Though it was much closer than Lobo fans would have liked, Wednesday night’s win made that drive home before Turkey day that much sweeter.
Next up:
Eric Olen’s squad will take the holiday break & hit the hardwood next on Monday December 1st against New Mexico Highlands inside the Pit. That in-state matchup can be viewed on the Mountain West Network at 7:00 PM MST.
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