Photo by Joe Grimando
ALBUQUERQUE, NM–With the month of March becoming visible on the horizon and only six games left in conference play before teams and fans pack their bags for a weekend in Las Vegas, it’s time to lock in. As the Lobos currently find themselves out of the at-large bid picture, according to bracketologists around the nation this week.
The program may need to run the table for the remainder of Mountain West play to hear their name called on Selection Sunday. That run started on Tuesday against the visiting Air Force. The Falcons may not exactly be the resume booster needed this time of year, but they are a must win matchup this time of year.
Lobo fans know all too well what it is to fall to the Falcons at home & have it hurt your Big Dance metrics. After all that did happen just a few years ago, back in the 2023-2024 season when a still Jaelen House led squad boasted wins over ranked Colorado State, Utah State & San Diego State. But dropped a home game to Air Force 78-77, thanks to a last second dagger by Rytis Petraitis. Luckily for Lobo fans, he plays for the Cal Golden Bears now.
That loss “likely” cost New Mexico their at-large aspirations. For the sake of this year’s Big Dance hopes, that cannot happen again.
First Half
Things began quickly, with the Falcons winning the tip & Junior Kolby Gilles opening the scoring bank with a quick layup. New Mexico answered back quickly with a Luke Haupt layup on the other end.
Freshman sniper Lucas Hobin missed his first three-point attempt of the game on the next possession. So, New Mexico responded in kind with their first of the night, courtesy of Haupt from the bottom corner & an assist from Antonio Chol.
The Falcons needed to respond on their next possession but instead displayed an odd lack of time management skills & turned the ball over with a shot clock violation.
Soon after, star Lobo Freshman Jake Hall earned his first points with a triple of his own from the bottom corner to extend the Lobo lead to 8-2 in just under two minutes of play.
Air Force’s own star Freshman Kam Sanders was looking to close the gap with a three pointer of his own but couldn’t knock it down. The ball went into the paint to Tomislav Buljan next. Who put the ball on the floor to go to work but was fouled by Wesley Celichowski and sent to the line instead, he’d miss both free ones.
On the other end it was Buljan doing the fouling now, sending Hobin to the line where he drained both attempts to shrink the Lobo lead to 8-4.
Chol missed a deep three ball on the other end, only for Haupt to grab the offensive board and kick it out to Hall for another deep attempt, that one didn’t fall either. But the Lobos didn’t miss out on potential points as another offensive board led to a Chol turnaround jumper in the lane.
Ethan Greenberg, another Falcon Freshman knocked down his first three pointer of the game to bring Air Force to within striking distance, only down 10-7 as the game approached the fifteen-minute mark.
Albury pushed the ball up the court and missed a rare three-point attempt of his own, Buljan grabbed the offensive rebound and was fouled by Sanders before the media timeout.
After some mass substitutions from both sides, Kam Sanders stole the ball and knocked down the mid-range jumper to bring their deficit to just one point.
As Air Force slowly swung the momentum in their favor, fans inside the Pit began to make themselves known. With seven-footer JT Rock in the lineup, the plan of attack changed a bit. With an old school hook shot at the top of the key to end the Lobo scoring drought.
On the other end, Air Force’s seven-footer Celichowski tried to open his scoring account but missed the layup. Riley Dering found his first points with a tip-in at the rim to keep the Falcons to just within one, down 12-11 at the 14:37 mark.
A few bad plays by both sides ultimately led to a foul on Dering, sending Haupt to the line, where he knocked down both free throws to extend the Lobo lead to three.
A few plays later, a missed Tajavis Miller three pointer was grabbed by Hall, he went back up with it & kissed it perfectly off of the glass.
Another round of mass substitutions by both sides led to an Air Force possession, which led to another shot clock violation, the Falcons’ second of the night.
Eric Olen’s group kept looking to Rock in the paint, this time with an alley oop flush off of a perfectly timed dime from Albury, giving New Mexico their biggest lead of the game at 18-11 at the 12:32 mark.
A few possessions later, Albury grabbed a defensive board but had his pockets picked soon after. That was by Gilles, who took the ball up with gusto for his second field goal of the night and the old school three-point opportunity. The Junior forward knocked down his free one.
The Lobos continued to exhibit some sloppy play but also continued to knock down shots, this time courtesy of very deep Chol three pointer to extend New Mexico’s lead back to seven at 21-14 with just about eleven minutes left in the half.
The Junior guard began heating up, but was sent to the free throw line next possession and shot 1-2. Sanders went for another Falcon three on the other end, but it rang out. Leading to another Lobo field goal, this time by Tenette with a smoother jumper in traffic.
Just under the ten-minute mark Greenberg knocked down back-to-back three-pointers. Giving Air Force some much needed life and bringing the Falcons to within four, down 24-20.
The Lobos needed to break away from their visitors if they didn’t want to make this an uncomfortable nail biter.
The ball went to Buljan in the paint, where he netted the layup with some bully ball. Air Force was feeling it on the other end and kept a normally ruckus Pit crowd a bit silent with a Dering alley oop dunk to keep their deficit to four.
After exchanging a pair of missed three pointers, the ball ended up in Hall’s hands at the top of the arc and he sank the deep ball. Putting New Mexico up 29-22 with 8:08 left in the half.
But Air Force wasn’t done just yet, with Sanders responding with a three of his own. Three pointers quickly became the name the game, as Chol netted another on the next possession.
A silly foul on Hall’s next three-point attempt was soon followed by a media timeout at 6:50, which called for more mass substitutions.
Out of the time out, the freshman showed poise and drained all three. Extending the Lobo lead back to double digits (35-25) as the game approached the five-minute mark.
On the next play Celichowski gave the crowd his best Abdul-Jabbar impressive with a hook shot in the paint. Tenette drove the ball inside on the other end, keeping the lead at ten points (37-27).
Gilles kept the Falcons in pursuit with a layup but on the defensive end, he sent Buljan to the line for a pair of free ones, draining both.
Each side exchanged field goals before New Mexico got the ball back with 4:20 left in the half. The next sequence was wonky, three missed Lobo shots followed by three offensive boards by Buljan & the layup at the rim to put New Mexico up 43-31.
The next Falcon possession resulted in a third shot clock violation of the half, which made you question if it was the stout Lobo defense making this happen all night or just a genuine lack of clock awareness by Air Force. Albury went to the line for two free ones soon after.
After a missed three pointer by the Falcons big man, Chol knocked down his fourth deep ball of the half with just about two minutes left in the half. Sanders got back in the scoring column with a nice mid-range jumper at the top of the key to help end a scoring drought.
Albury began to slice and dice his way through the lane and laid in back-to-back shots at the rim. As the icing on the cake of a beautiful last ten minutes of play, Chol knocked down his fourth triple of the game, sending the Lobos to the locker room up 55-33.
The first half wasn’t flawless by any means, but it could be characterized by a series of runs throughout the first twenty minutes that resulted in a large twenty-two-point lead.
Those runs had the Lobos shooting 67.9% from the field in the first half, including 50% from deep on fourteen attempts. With a whopping 55 points by half time, Coach Olen had two Lobos in double-digits with seven scoring at least two field goals.
The Falcons shot well from inside the arc, shooting 69.2% (9-13) while struggling from deep and only heading to the charity stripe five times all half.
It would be hard to blow a twenty-two-point half time lead, but not impossible, the Lobos would not be able to let up in the second half if they wanted to hold off any sort of pesky Falcon comeback.
Second Half
As the buzzard sounded for the second twenty minutes of play, the three-point barrage continued. Gilles made the first points of the half with a layup. On the other end, Chol missed a layup but grabbed his own miss and tipped it back in. Bringing the lead back to twenty-two, at 47-35.
An Albury steal led to a fastbreak that would send Haupt to the charity stripe for two, he’d go 1-2 from the line. Albury went for another steal but was called for the foul instead.
After both sides exchanged missed three-pointers, Hobin got back into the scoring column with a mid-range jumper at the top of the key.
He was fouled and had the chance to earn another one at the free throw line, he capitalized on the free one.
Albury would break the 60-point seal with a layup in the lane, giving New Mexico the 60-38 lead at the 16:46 mark. Buljan had the defensive stop on the other end but would turn the ball over back to Air Force before stealing it right back.
That all simply ended in a missed Haupt layup and a Sanders missed three-pointer on the other end.
On the next Lobo possession, the ball went to Rock down low but he was fouled by Dering and sent to the line to earn his points, he would miss both attempts.
Hobin found the bottom of the net on soon after, with a three-pointer that shrunk the New Mexico lead to nineteen (60-41) as the game approached the final fifteen minutes.
Tenette responded soon after with a deep three of his own from atop the key. Gilles took a possibly ill-advised three of his own on the following possession. It didn’t fall and a foul on the other end sent Buljan to the line to shoot 1-2 on his free throw attempts.
Both sides would go scoreless over the next few minutes before Hobin was sent to the charity stripe by Tenette. He would knock down both attempts to give the traveling Air Force fans a bit of hope.
Then the quick exchange began, with a layup from Rock & three-pointer from Hall countered by a turnaround jumper from Sanders.
Out of the media timeout, Miller knocked down his first triple of the contest to give the Lobos their largest lead of the game at 27 points (72-45). He followed up with another on the very next possession to push the lead to thirty points with just 10:36 left to go in the contest.
As Rock was attempting to start his own block party, he instead sent Sanders to the line for a pair of free ones.
The Falcons deficit appeared to be going nowhere, Coach Olen looked towards his bench. Subbing in Freshman Timeo Pons for some much needed playing time.
The Frenchman went to work, making his first shot attempt, a driving layup assisted by Hall. On the next Lobo possession, Hall missed a deep ball but Haupt got the offensive board and kicked it out to Pons. Who in turn knocked down the triple to ignite the home crowd and extend the lead to 82-47 with 6:34 left in the game.
After an Air Force steal and missed three-point attempt, Haupt grabbed the rebound and dished the ball to Pons in transition for the slam and his seventh point in just about two minutes of action.
That caused Interim Head Coach Jon Jordan to call for a timeout.
Out of the timeout the Lobos looked to Pons once again, but he would miss the deep ball as we approached the final five-minute mark. Miller stayed active after the miss and stole the ball back. After a quick substitution by Air Force, Rock took his chances from deep and drained his first three-point field goal of the game.
He would foul Gilles on a put back the next possession. But grabbed the rebound off of the missed free throw and was quick to get back on offense for his second straight triple, giving New Mexico the 90-48 lead.
The rest of the game was much of the same, a field goal here and there, oh and Chol’s fifth triple of the night in the closing minutes. A final three-pointer by Elliott Taite went in just before the final buzzer.
Sending the Falcons back home and keeping the W in Albuquerque. As the Lobos beat Air Force 98-61 in front of an announced attendance of 12,291 on a Tuesday night.
It was obviously a must win scenario for Coach Olen’s group, but they did win with emphasis on the margin of victory. The Lobos did whatever they wanted from beyond the arc. Shooting near 50% on a whopping 31 attempts, marking their thirteenth game of the season with double-digit threes.
Players of the Match:
Air Force-Kam Sanders-Freshman Guard-13 points, 5 rebounds, 2 assists & 2 steals on 50% shooting from the floor (5-10), 25% from deep (1-4) & 50% from the free throw line (2-4) in 30 minutes on the floor
New Mexico-Antonio Chol-Junior Guard/Forward-20 points, 5 rebounds, 1 steal & 1 block on 53.8% (7-13) shooting from the floor, 50% (5-10) from deep & 50% from the free throw line (1-2) in 27 minutes on the floor
Next Up:
The Lobos will take their winning momentum on the road for a pair of away games. First off will be a stop in the Central Valley against Fresno state. That game will tip-off 6:00 PM MST and can be watched on CBS Sports.
The injury bug hit Vance Walberg’s program recently, with David Douglas Jr. out for the season with a fractured knee & leading scorer/walking bucket Jake Heidbreder looking like a day-to-day option himself.
The Falcons are still looking for their first Mountain West win this season. They’ll head home to Colorado Springs for a two game homestand inside Clune Arena. Air Force hosts UNLV on Saturday for a 1:00 PM MST tip-off. Which can be viewed on the Mountain West Network.
At this point in the season, the Falcons are going to be underdogs in any game they play, so why not secure the upset at home? Give the fans something happy to think about on that drive home!
Larry Muniz is a Mountain West Basketball beat writer for Couch Potato Sports along with West Coast mid-major coverage at Mid-Major Madness.
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