Albuquerque, NM–Fresh off of one of the better road wins in mid-major basketball on Wednesday night. After upsetting the then top-50 VCU Rams team on the road. The New Mexico Lobos found themselves defending their storied homecourt against Florida Gulf Coast.
An Eagle squad coached by former Big Ten head man Pat Chambers & one who could not be underestimated with a gritty style of play. Which was on full display in front of an announced crowd of 12,204.
The Lobos struggled to get their offense going in the first few minutes of this Sunday showdown. The Eagles zone defense kept New Mexico on their toes before FGCU’s Notre Dame transfer J.R. Konieczny opened the scoring with a three pointer.
Those offensive struggles or better yet, defensive prowess continued as missed shots and turnovers filled the stat sheet before London, England native Rory Stewart knocked down back-to-back threes for the Eagles to take the 9-0 lead in the 15th minute.
Deyton Albury opened New Mexico’s scoring with a two-point jumper to finally let the home crowd take their seats, nearly five minutes into the first-half.
After the media timeout, the home squad decided to get their 7-1 Big 12 transfer involved and got the ball to JT Rock for a two handed slam. Only the second Lobo field goal of the game thus far.
That momentum was short lived, as Darren Williams soon gave FGCU their fourth triple of the game, giving them the 12-4 lead with 12:20 left to go in the half.
Fans inside the Pit and watching elsewhere were anxiously awaiting the first bucket of their leading scorer Jake Hall. The freshman struggled early as he went 0-3 on his first three point attempts, adding to a horrid 0-7 start from deep for the Lobos.
He decided to take the ball inside on his next possession, driving the line & hitting the Eagle defense with a shot fake only to miss his field goal attempt and then tip his own miss back in. Even though the shots weren’t falling, the fight was still on full display for Hall.
As the game approached the 10 minute mark, the Lobos three point woes continued, as Luke Haupt missed another jumper & Uriah Tenette turned it over on the subsequent possession.
Luckily the team’s confidence didn’t fade, as they went right back to their three point shooting ways the next possession. This time Chris Howell made the first New Mexico three pointer of the game to bring the game to within three 12-9.
The quality of game play didn’t get much better, but the Lobos continued to chip away at their visitors lead and a pair of Albury free throws tied things up at sixteen a piece at the 7:28 mark.
A pair of JT Rock free throws gave New Mexico their first lead of the game (18-16), before Rory Stewart knocked down his third triple of the game to give the Eagles back the lead. Gabe Tanner extended that lead out a few more points with FGCU’s first two-point field goal of the night soon after.
Realizing their best chance at offensive efficiency may be their seven-foot mismatch down low, JT Rock was fed the rock for another two handed flush. As Jake Hall and a few others subbed back into the game, fans were still awaiting their first Hall three pointer.
They didn’t wait long as the freshman gave the Lobos back the lead with his first triple of the game, pushing them ahead narrowly 23-21 with 4:03 left in the first-half.
After the timeout, D-II transfer Luke Haupt cleaned up a messy play to salvage two more points to give the Lobos their biggest lead of the game at 25-21. As things were looking a little brighter, starter Chris Howell called it a night early & headed to the locker room with an apparent abdomen injury.
On the next possession, Antonio Chol knocked down a monstrous three point jumper to extend that lead out to 28-23 with 2:57 left in the half. New Mexico lost another Lobo a few minutes later as freshman double-double machine Tomislav Buljan followed Howell to the locker room with an apparent hamstring injury.
JT Rock began to make the most of his unexpected minutes as he got his first block of the game on one end and attempted to pick the pocket of J.R. Konieczny on the other.
Deyton Albury earned himself a trip to the charity stripe but failed to knock down his first free throw. After regaining possession on a FGCU turnover, a bad pass by Rock at the top of the key earned Michael Duax a transition throwdown that kept the Pit crowd very docile in the closing minutes of the first-half.
The Lobos had one more chance to extend their 28-25 lead before the half, but a botched handle by Albury resulted in a circus shot as time expired.
The name of the game in the first-half was DEFENSE. The Lobos as a whole shot just 30% (9-30) from the floor & an even more troubled 25% (4-16) from deep. While only heading to three free throw line eight times, making six of those.
The Eagles opened the half with a hot hand, but their shooting totals looked very similar to New Mexico’s as the half ended. What FGCU did well was essentially neutralize the offensive impact of Buljan (0 points, 0 rebounds), Hall (5 points on 2-6 shooting) & Tenette (0 points, 0-3 from the floor).
FGCU also managed to play tremendous defense at the top of the key, limiting the Lobos offensive motion & pocketing six steals & three blocks in the first half in the process. Eric Olen’s squad needed to harness some of that second half energy they put on display in Richmond earlier this week to separate themselves from their ASUN foe.
Second Half
The toughness of the game didn’t change much out of the gate as each squad began to exchange field goals. But after a few defensive stops, the Lobos managed to go on a 5-0 run with a turnaround hook shot by Rock in the post & another three pointer by Hall.
Hall began to heat up as he knocked down another three pointer to extend the Lobo lead 37-29. FGCU’s Isaiah Malone answered back on the other end with a three of his own to shrink the deficit to single digits again.
The Lobos began to look for a higher tempo pace as a quick trip down the floor resulted in a beautiful two handed slam by Chol off a great dime by Albury. This offensive rhythm was recognized by Florida Gulf Coast’s coaching staff and resulted in a timeout.
The next few possessions looked reminiscent of the first half, five missed field goals, including four missed three pointers. Though fans were in for a treat out of the time out. As an inbound alley oop play, beautifully executed by high flying freshman Tenette reawakened the crowd inside the Pit.
The next play, after a pair of missed three pointers by both Haupt & Milos Vicentic, Tenette grabbed the offensive board and cleaned up the second chance field goal. As the fabolous freshman continued to facilitate offense, he dished the ball to Vicentic on the next possession to send him to the foul line & extend the Lobo lead to it’s largest of the game 45-34.
Luke Haupt found some energy on both ends of the floor with a steal at the top of the key, which led to a three point play on the other end, with a clutch free throw to extend the lead by fourteen, in the 12th minute mark.
The Eagles weren’t done yet and Jordan Ellerbe gave FGCU their 8th three pointer of the game, cutting the Lobo lead back down to single digits (48-39).
After a tough defensive foul call that sent the Pit crowd into discontent. JT Rock got them back into the action with a stone wall style block on the other end.
The Eagles started to slow things down and send the Lobos to the free throw line, as Chol went 1-2 and Haupt went 2-2 just a possession later. Things began to get chippy, as NAIA transfer Isaiah Malone took it down low with a couple of mismatches in Haupt & Vicentic guarding him. And on the ensuing play, elbowed Haupt as the Lobos began to set up their offense.
This resulted in a technical foul being called on Haupt for some exchanged words. This interaction got the crowd involved, and a Chol three pointer on the next possession grew the lead back to double-digits (54-44) with 7:49 left in the game.
As the Lobos continued to knock down two point field goals & free-throws, the Eagles continued to knock down three point jumpers to keep fans on the edge of their seats. As the Lobos 15 point, lead (62-47) shrank again with another Michael Duax three.
The rough and tumble play continued as Albury drove the lane on a fast break and then took an elbow to the face grabbing a defensive rebound on the other end. He became the fourth Lobo to break the double-digit scoring seal with that play and returned to the charity stripe for a chance at two more.
The Lobos went on an 11-0 run, including four free throws from Milos Vicentic. Tenette added to that run with a pair of free throws after grabbing his second offensive board of the game among the trees down low. Extending the lobo lead to 75-50, with only a few minutes left in the game. Nearly sealing the deal with his energy and never give up mindset on each play.
Florida Gulf Coast never gave up either, going on a 9-0 run to end the game 75-59 loss after being down by a whopping 25-points just a few minutes earlier.
Pat Chambers’ squad appeared to be a perfect non-conference test at home on a Sunday afternoon. They came out swinging & played tough defense for the whole forty minutes.
Causing the Lobos to test their mental toughness, as Head Coach Eric Olen stated the team made no adjustments offensively. Simply having to find an offensive rhythm & make more defensive stops. Also requiring them to go deep into their bench with a pair of injuries to their starting lineup.
New Mexico had a tough time shooting the ball overall, shooting 37% (22/60) from the floor, including 20% from deep (7-34). But they made their money and won the game at the free throw line, shooting 88% from the charity stripe on a whopping twenty seven attempts. Dominating the glass certainly helped too, outrebounding the Eagles 44-29.
The Lobos ended the non-conference portion of their schedule with a 9-2 record.
Players of the Game
Florida Gulf Coast-Michael Duax RS-Sr. F 7 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals & 1 block
The Eagles didn’t have a single player reach double-digit scoring after a read hot streak to open the games slowly sizzled out. The player who stood out the most to me was Michael Duax. With his hands in pot on multiple spots of the floor, he was a tough matchup for smaller guards at 6-5, 215 & a defender with lateral quickness at the top of the key that caused problems.
New Mexico-Luke Haupt RS-Sr. G 7 points, 6 assists, 4 rebounds & 3 steals
This was a tough nomination as Haupt was one of several impact players who didn’t finish the night with double-digit scoring. But his impact on the floor was felt on both sides of the ball, including 6 assists to only 3 turnovers & 3 steals on the defensive end.
Up Next:
The Lobos rounded out their non-conference slate with a 9-2 record. As they prepare to open up conference play against San Jose State on December 20th at 7:00 PM inside the Pit.
New Mexico historically cannot underestimate the Spartans, as Time Miles group certainly have the firepower this year to put a big blotch on Eric Olen’s tournament resume with an at home loss to the No. 248th ranked team per the NET.
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