Mathis, Drinnon Win; Silver Prevails on Friday
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — In a night filled with 3-point competitions, dunk competitions, autographs and overall exciting fanfare, The University of New Mexico men’s basketball team competed in its second straight Cherry & Silver game. The silver squad, captained by senior Anthony Mathis ultimately came away with the victory, finishing with 55 points in the 20-minute half game.
The Lobo Cherry & Silver teams were chosen via draft prior to game time by Mathis and fellow senior Dane Kuiper.
The Lobos also displayed their traditional 3-pointer competition in front of approximately 6,700 fans in the season kick-off event. After an eight-player semifinal round and a finals competition that included the top four, Mathis took the win for the third time in his career. Mathis is an undefeated, three-time 3-point champion as he also won the competition as a freshman and as a sophomore (which were the last two times the competition was held).
In the always-fan-favorite dunk competition, junior Karim Ezzeddine, sophomores Makuach Maluach and Keith McGee as well as freshmen Drue Drinnon and Tavian Percy faced off with their best dunks. Fans roared with excitement as players took passes from the stands and leaped over other players. The top three finalists, Drinnon, McGee and Maluach were graded by a celebrity panel of judges and a twitter poll for the winner. At exactly six feet tall as the shortest player on the Lobo squad, Drinnon claimed the victory with a pair of impressive dunks.
Did you miss @liljosh8 ‘s winning dunks?? Here’s a little snapshot of what you missed out on. #ShortyGotHops #GoLobos pic.twitter.com/MBmZ2B3jYk
— Lobo Basketball (@UNMLoboMBB) October 20, 2018
The Lobos started off slow as everyone on the court was getting back into the rhythm, but after 18 minutes of play, the silver squad was up 45-36 before the score was set at 45-45 to give the players more competition as the clock wound down – and to give the fans an epic ending. With just seconds left to play, Maluach nailed a three with his team down 53-49, bringing it within one, 53-52, and just 4.2 seconds left. A pair of free throws on the other end by Mathis ended the game, however, 55-52. Mathis netted four straight free throws to close the game for the silver squad.
The Lobos officially tip of the season on Nov. 6 at CSUN before hosting their first home contest, an exhibition game against Northern New Mexico, on Saturday, Nov. 10 at 7 p.m.