Box Score | New Mexico Quotes | Boise State Quotes | Post Game Notes
LAS VEGAS, Nev. — Déjà vu is only fun when it’s something you want to relive, not a nightmare. However, for the second time in three weeks, the New Mexico Lobos were burned by a last second shot by Boise State to lose 64-62. This time it knocked the Lobos out of the Mountain West Tournament in a quarterfinal game, ending UNM’s season at 15-15.
The fact that it was just another close game for the Lobos, and for UNM against Boise State, wasn’t lost on Lobo head coach Mike Bradbury. “We’ve had four of these in the last two and a half weeks that we’ve lost four games at the buzzer, on the last shot. Not the last possession, the last shot,” said Bradbury. “The way our kids continued to bounce back and practice well and come out and play the next one and play the next one, you know, that’s what made this group special. We got down to bare bones in players. They continued to fight and put us in this position.”
The game was a tremendous back-and-forth affair that saw 17 lead changes, six ties and two clutch shots in the final 3.2 seconds of the game. The Lobos, who used just six players in the contest, took a five-point lead, tying its largest lead of the game with an Alex Lapeyrolerie short jumper, making it 57-52 with 7:44 left. That ended a quick 6-0 run, but the Broncos would eventually go on a 6-0 run of their own to take a 58-57 lead on a basket by Marijk Vanderschaaf.
Cherise Beynon, who finished with 20 points, nine boards and six assists, hit a jumper from the right side to give UNM the lead back at 59-58. However, Brooke Pahukoa, who led all with 25 points, gave BSU the lead back at 60-59 with 2:34 left. After a UNM miss, another Pahukoa free throw line jumper pushed the lead to 62-59 with 1:37 left.
Beynon missed a jumper, and then BSU was able to run nearly a full minute off the clock after an offensive rebound, but with the game clock running down, UNM head coach Mike Bradbury elected to play defense instead of foul, and his charges were rewarded with a stop after Pahukoa missed a three-pointer and Lapeyrolerie grabbed the rebound and called timeout, with UNM advancing the ball.
Then a chess match ensued, and after multiple timeouts, the Lobos inbounded to Beynon, who faked a shot, drew two defenders and shoveled it off to Jayda Bovero for a three-pointer, tying the game at 62-all with 3.2 seconds left.
Boise State advanced the ball and Pahukoa got free and hit a short jumper from the lane with 1.1 seconds left. UNM didn’t get a shot off in the final 1.1 seconds. That winning jumper marked the second time in three weeks that Boise State defeated the Lobos 64-62 on a last second jumper. On February 15, Vanderschaaf hit a turnaround jumper with 0.7 seconds left to defeat UNM in Boise.
The Lobos never led by more than five, and Boise State never led by more than three in the contest that was a back-and-forth affair throughout. The Lobos led 21-18 after the first quarter, 36-35 at the half and 49-47 after three quarters.
While the Lobos had their season end, Bradbury definitely enjoyed his first year with UNM, and he did get a taste of New Mexico and it’s fanbase. “It says 1,600 on here, I don’t know how accurate that is, but if that’s an accurate number, I’m going to say 1550 were Lobos fans. You’ve got to remember, our men don’t play for two days. So these people came to watch our kids play. The fans are tremendous. The support is tremendous. So what I’ve learned about it is that. They care about it and they expect our best effort and my best effort and our kids to act right and do right and all that, every single second. So that’s what we try to do.”
Along with Beynon’s 20 points, UNM got 17 by Lapeyrolerie and 10 from Laneah Bryan, and a UNM Mountain West Tournament record 17 rebounds by Richelle van der Keijl. Boise State was led by Pohukoa’s 25 and Marta Hermida finished with 14. Boise State advances to take on No. 1 seed Colorado State in the semifinals.