Lobos Lock in Third with OT Senior Night Win
BOX SCORE (PDF) | PHOTO GALLERY | POST-GAME NOTES | POST-GAME QUOTES
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — The University of New Mexico men’s basketball team sent its seniors off in style on Saturday night in Dreamstyle Arena – The Pit with a thrilling 95-86 overtime victory over Fresno State to clinch the third seed in the 2018 Mountain West Championships. The Lobos, now 17-14, 12-6 in the league, were picked to finish ninth this season and end conference play on a five-win streak.
Following the close matchup, which saw five players score in double figures, seniors Joe Furstinger, Sam Logwood and Antino Jackson were honored.
“The three seniors are terrific young men, I’m really happy for them, particularly the guys who have been here and maybe have been through a lot the past few years,” head coach Paul Weir said. “To finish with a good conference season like this maybe makes up for some things that weren’t great in the past, and then Antino came in and had a really good year for us too.
“I’m glad to enjoy those festivities, but right now it’s on to the tournament and we’ll start on that tomorrow morning.”
Leading by five at the half, 39-34, the Lobos got out to as much as a 14-point lead with 14:53 left in the second half, and again at the 14:12 mark. Fresno State followed with a 10-0 run to cut the Lobo lead to just four, 54-50. The Lobos responded however, embarking on a 12-4 run capped by a pair of 3-pointers from junior Anthony Mathis within 12 seconds.
Mathis connected at 8:54 to put the Lobos up nine before junior Troy Simons promptly snatched a steal on the inbound play and passed to Mathis for another three at 8:42 that got the crowd fired up, 66-54 Lobos.
UNM held at least a five-point advantage for the next eight minutes but, with 47 seconds on the clock, Fresno State’s Sam Bittner stole the ball and passed it to Jahmel Taylor, who finished with a team-best 23 points on the night, who scored a layup to cut the Lobo lead to three, 81-78.
The Lobos called a timeout, followed by a UNM turnover and, with 17 seconds left, Taylor hit a three to tie it 81-81. Jackson attempted to take the win with three seconds left but missed from 3-point range and the Lobos got the offensive rebound to maintain possession wth 1.8 seconds left on the clock.
Coach Weir called another timeout to draft a play that led Mathis to attempt a jumper, but the shot didn’t fall and the teams went into extra minutes.
After allowing their lead to slip away in the waning minutes of the second half, the Lobos didn’t make the same mistake twice. UNM allowed the Bulldogs to score just five points in five minutes of overtime, all free throws, while the Lobos scored 14. UNM’s 14 points in overtime started and ended with a pair of Simons free throws as he went 6-for-6 from the stripe in the extra frame, as well as a layup from Furstinger, a 3-pointer and a free throw from Jackson and another pair of free throws from junior Chris McNeal.
With just 21 seconds left on the clock and the Lobos ahead by nine, Coach Weir substituted out Logwood and he followed by subbing out Furstinger with 11 seconds left. As he did so, the crowd of 13,069 erupted for its tenured seniors.
“I don’t even know what to say. The fans, they are unreal and unbelievable. It’s a great opportunity for anyone that hears (these fans),” Jackson said. “This place is really home. They made me feel like I’m really at home in just a small amount of time, but I feel like I’ve been here for four years … This is a very special city, and I’m very happy to be a part of it.”
The five Lobos to score in double figures on the night include Mathis, who registered 23 points for his 18th straight game scoring in double figures. He went a perfect 5-for-5 from behind the arc, 2-for-2 from the charity stripe and 8-for-9 from the field.
Mathis was followed by Jackson who netted 16 points and collected four assists and one steal and Simons who also scored 16 points while nabbing two steals and going 8-for-8 from the free throw line. Logwood added 12 points, five rebounds and three steals while Furstinger nearly notched his seventh double-double of the season with 11 points and nine rebounds.
UNM outshot Fresno State 53.7-49.1 percent on the night and 50.0-41.2 percent from 3-point range. The Lobos also shot 87.1 percent from the free throw line compared to 81.1 percent for Fresno State.
The Lobos outrebounded the Bulldogs, marking just the 10th time all season that UNM has outrebounded its opponent, the fifth time in conference play.
UNM claims the third seed in the 2018 Mountain West Tournament and will play the winner of the No. 6 (Wyoming) and No. 11 (San José State) seeds on Thursday, March 8 at 9:30 p.m. MT in Las Vegas, Nev.