Lobos Top Duquesne

Nov. 14, 2004

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ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) – Mark Walters and Kris Collins each scored 19 points
and New Mexico, off to its best start in six years, beat Duquesne 82-74 in the
NABC Classic Sunday.

New Mexico (3-0) beat North Carolina A&T, Santa Clara and Duquesne in the
three-day round robin. It’s the Lobos’ best start since going 8-0 at the start
of the 1998-99 season, the last time New Mexico made it to the NCAA tournament.

Duquesne (1-2) had a pair of early leads and hung close the rest of the way.
A 15-foot jumper by Keith Gayden got the Dukes within 35-33 with 19:05 left in
the game, but that’s as close as Duquesne would come to a lead in the final 20
minutes.

Martin Osimani led Duquesne with 16 points. Bryant McAllister scored 15,
Jack Higgins 12 and Kieron Achara 10.

Collins had a seal and scored on a layup after Gayden’s basket and Walters,
who sat out the final nine minutes of the first half with two fouls, hit his
third 3-pointer of the game. A steal by Walters set up a free throw by Collins
that upped the Lobos’ lead to 41-33 with 17:14 left.

Walters, fully recovered from a knee injury that slowed him down last year,
hit his first six shots Sunday. He, Collins and Alfred Neale carried New
Mexico’s offense on a night when Danny Granger, the team’s leading scorer and
rebounder a year ago, wasn’t much of a factor.

Collins got 15 of his points in the second half and Neale scored 17 points
and went 4-for-4 on 3-pointers. Neale also went 4-for-4 from behind the arc on
Saturday night when New Mexico set a school record with 20 3-pointers in a
93-59 win over Santa Clara.

Granger, held to four free throws in the first half, finished with 14
points. He hit just 3 of 8 shots and also struggled at the free throw line,
going 7-for-13.

Walters, a junior who also had 19 points against Santa Clara, had
back-to-back double figure scoring games for the first time since the last
three games of his freshman season.