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Sophomore guard Dane Kuiper jumps over fellow teammate Joe Furstinger and UNLV players on his way to the net Tuesday, Jan. 10, 2017 at WisePies Arena. The Lobos beat Colorado State this Saturday 84-71.

Sophomore guard Dane Kuiper jumps over fellow teammate Joe Furstinger and UNLV players on his way to the net Tuesday, Jan. 10, 2017 at WisePies Arena. The Lobos beat Colorado State this Saturday 84-71.

Men's Basketball: Tempers flare as Lobos take an 84-71 victory at Colorado State

The Lobos finally broke through a stretch of second-half woes en route to a win over the weekend, but it is what happened post-game that appears to be grabbing attention.

New Mexico (10-8, 3-3 MW) took an 84-71 victory over Colorado State on Saturday afternoon, snapping a three-game losing streak, and things seemed to get chippy near the end of the game.

The Albuquerque Journal’s Geoff Grammer reported that junior forward Joe Furstinger set a hard pick on Ram J.D. Paige, laying out and injuring the CSU player out, after which a fight nearly broke out.

UNM assistant head coach Chris Harriman and assistant coach Terrence Rencher were ejected from the game for leaving the bench, and the emotions spilled out.

Grammer tweeted a video which showed CSU’s Emmanuel Omogbo arguing with UNM coaches, seemingly directed at Rencher, while they were standing next to the Lobo team bus.

His Twitter feed explained that the coaches were waiting near the team bus while it was being loaded. Grammer said it was Omogbo who started the incident and the player had to be restrained by head coach Larry Eustachy.

The audio appeared to capture Rencher respond to Omogbo saying, “Learn how to lose, boy. That’s all.”

Prior to the incident, the Lobos enjoyed one of their best road outings of the 2016-2017 campaign.

“They did everything I asked them to do today,” UNM head coach Craig Neal said in a release. “We have to finish out games and we did that tonight. I liked the way they fought back, and they followed the game plan.”

Junior guard Elijah Brown propelled his team to the win, scoring 25 points and going 4-of-6 from downtown. He also recorded nine rebounds and seven assists.

Neal said the team received a lot of contributions from several players on the team,

providing the balanced scoring attack he has been asking for.

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Three other Lobos saw double figures: Tim Williams scored 15, while Dane Kuiper and Damien Jefferson chipped in 10 points each.

Colorado State dropped to 11-7 overall, and holds a 3-2 record in conference play.

Gian Clavell led the Rams offense with 22 points and also snagged five steals. Prentiss Nixon had 19 and Emmanuel Omogbo scored 14, but also had five turnovers and was involved in a post-game incident with one of UNM’s assistant coaches.

The teams traded leads for much of the first 10 minutes of the game, but New Mexico eventually took control and enjoyed a 44-34 halftime lead.

Neal said at halftime he was proud of the defensive effort. And for the first time in several games, the Lobos continued that intensity in the second half.

UNM’s offense was clicking as well, showing patience and focus in hitting 55.6 percent of its shots, including going 6-of-9 (66.7 percent) from beyond the arc.

The Lobos held their biggest lead of the day, up 21 points at the 9:54 mark, with the score 72-51. UNM held CSU to 35.8 percent shooting from the field and 7-of-22 (31.8 percent) from the three-point line — a marked improvement for the Lobo defense.

Colorado State will likely be eager to get another shot at the New Mexico. The rematch, which will be on the Lobos’ home floor where they are 7-2, is scheduled for Feb. 21.

New Mexico will be on the road again as the team heads to Boise State to take on the Broncos at 9 p.m. on Tuesday.

Isabel Gonzalez is a sports reporter for the Daily Lobo. She mainly covers men’s soccer and basketball. She can be reached at sports@dailylobo.comor on Twitter 
@cisabelg.

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