The inaugural Lobo All-Star game on Sunday saw 9,497 fans watch some of the greatest UNM players in the history of the program face off against one another in a Cherry vs. Silver match. The Cherry team narrowly beat the Silver team 127-124.
Drew Gordon hadn’t played a game at The Pit since the 2011-12 season, and yet he had to remind himself that he was playing in an exhibition game.
“I honestly felt like, for a second, that I was warming up for a regular (season) game. We were playing Colorado State or BYU or something,” he said. “I had to check myself ... This is not a regular-season (game); we’re just having fun here. That’s the mentality that you get in The Pit.”
Cameron Bairstow and former UNM assistant coach Brandon Mason came up with the idea and put it together. The two announced the Lobo All-Star game about three weeks ago, and Bairstow said he was happy with the results.
“I thought it turned out really well,” he said. “We envisioned what it could possibly be, and it showed tonight. There are some things we could do better with such events; we threw it together the last minute.”
Ruben Douglas, who played at UNM from 2000-03, said he thinks the Lobo All-Star game should be a recurring event to bring back former Lobos.
“Actually, to get that invite was very humbling. I thought it was a great idea,” he said. “I think we need to do this annual to get more exposure and to get some of the old guys relevant.”
Bairstow said this past week was one of the most emotionally draining of his career, but added that the Lobo All-Star game might be a yearly event.
“Me and Brandon had talked about it, and we do have some ideas. It’s just based on what the fans want,” Bairstow said. “If the fans want it every year, then we’ll show it every year. We have some different ideas about events and we think the fans will like it as well.”
The actual game featured plenty of highlights, including Kendall Williams throwing an alley-oop off the backboard to himself. Alex Kirk had a game-high 32 points, J.R. Giddens had 31 points and Phillip McDonald scored 23 points.
At halftime, the dunk contest was held. The finale of the dunk contest saw a duel between Tony Dandridge, who won the 2009 NCAA Slam Dunk competition, and Deshawn Delaney.
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Dandridge went up first and slammed a dunk that left his right arm bent at the elbow in the hoop. Delaney followed that up by bouncing a ball of the hardcourt and skied to the rim for the slam.
The judges called the contest a tie, so the vote went to the fans who decided that Delaney was the winner.
“It was cool just to see them in person and run up and down,” Douglas said. “I didn’t realize Deshawn could get off the floor like that. Maybe I am old.”
Thomas Romero-Salas is the sports editor for the Daily Lobo. He can be reached at sports@dailylobo.com or on Twitter @ThomasRomeroS.
