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Lobos Remain Undefeated in The Pit; Top Air Force

BOX SCORE (PDF) | PHOTO GALLERY | POST-GAME NOTES | POST-GAME QUOTES

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — In one of its best shooting performances of the season, The University of New Mexico men’s basketball team improved to 15-3 on the season (4-1 MW) with an 84-78 victory over Air Force (8-9, 2-3 MW) on Saturday afternoon in Dreamstyle Arena – The Pit. The win also extended the Lobos’ home win streak to 12-0 which UNM has not done since the 2005-06 season.

UNM was led by five scorers in double figures for the sixth time this season. Despite fouling out with nearly four minutes left, it was redshirt-senior JaQuan Lyle who led the Lobos, netting 20 points for the second time in the last three games. He also added four assists, two rebounds, a steal and a block.

Following Lyle was redshirt-junior Zane Martin who scored 18 points, just one point shy of his most as a Lobo, while dishing a team-high five assists. Senior Corey Manigault added 16 points, six rebounds and three blocks while redshirt-senior Carlton Bragg nearly notched his sixth double-double of the season with 11 points and seven boards. The final Lobo to reach double figures was redshirt-sophomore Vante Hendrix who collected 10 points going a near-perfect 3-for-4 from the floor including 2-for-3 from 3-point range and 2-for-2 from the stripe.

On the night, UNM outshot Air Force in every category, firing at a clip of 57.7 percent from the floor (30-52) including 35.3 percent from behind the arc (6-17). From the stripe, the Lobos shot 72.0 percent (18-25), just edging the Falcons’ 71.4 percent (10-14). 

Not only was the Lobo offense hot, but the UNM defense was strong, holding the Falcon squad that entered the contest shooting 41.5 percent from behind the arc to just 28.6 percent from long range.

While Air Force was led by senior Lavelle Scottie, who tallied a game-high 26 points, the Lobos held Falcon leading scorer Ryan Swan to just 10 points. Swan entered the game averaging 19.3 points per game in conference play.

The squads traded 10-2 runs in the first half but ultimately UNM went into the locker room up by three, 37-34, after Air Force whittled down a nine-point Lobo lead with 4:20 left in the half with an 11-5 run to close the first frame. UNM is now undefeated (11-0) on the season when leading at halftime.

It was Manigault that was the star performer of the first half, posting 11 points, five rebounds, three assists and a block in the first 20 minutes.

Redshirt-junior Vance Jackson opened the second half with a layup to increase the UNM advantage to five before Air Force went on a 7-0 run to jump ahead by two with 17:57 left. It was a fast-break Lyle 3-pointer 16 seconds later however, that stopped the run and put the Lobos back on top for the remainder of the game.

UNM took off, got the score to double digits on a Martin dunk at the 11:38 mark, and even got out to as much as a 12-point lead in the second half en route to the six-point final score.
 


With five, second-half Lobo dunks including two in the final minute from junior Makuach Maluach and senior Carlton Bragg Jr., the second half and the end of the contest had fans roaring and on their feet.

The Lobos forced Air Force to expire all of its timeouts, one of which came after a Martin-to-Maluach alley-oop with 1:00 on the clock to make it a five-point game. The Bragg dunk came with just five seconds left, also assisted by Martin.

UNM will spend the next two games on the road, taking on Colorado State on Wednesday, Jan. 15, on ESPN3 before continuing the road trip with a Saturday contest at UNLV on Jan. 18 on CBS Sports Network. The Lobos return home on Tuesday, Jan. 21, as they host San José State at 8 p.m. on AT&T SportsNet.