LAS VEGAS — The UNM men's basketball team ran with UNLV, but the gas tank finally dried up in a 120-117 double-overtime loss late Thursday in the first round of the Mountain West Conference tournament.
Back-to-back 3-pointers by guard Tim Lightfoot gave the Lobos hope late, but a final prayer by forward Cody Payne was denied when the ball bounced off the backboard as time expired on UNM's tournament dreams.
"The game was a microcosm of our season," head coach Fran Fraschilla said. "We had a lot of ups and downs but we never quit in this game, and we showed a lot of heart and character, and I am very proud of our team."
The game's feverish pace, with each team trading baskets at a blistering rate, stalled in the second overtime when the University of Nevada at Las Vegas mounted a run on the shoulders of guard Lou Kelly. The senior broke away from Payne on two consecutive possessions for four points and two free throws put the Rebels up 117-111 with 37.7 remaining.
The game appeared to be out of reach, but UNM refused to throw in the towel. The Lobos rode Lightfoot's hot shooting to cut the deficit to 118-117, but would get no closer.
"It's the type of team where they give you chances to score if you push it on them or attack," Fraschilla said. "I think the big thing was we weren't going to hold the ball, we were going to go after them. We felt that we needed to go after them and we did."
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UNM ended the regular season at 16-13, while UNLV improves to 19-9 overall.
The Lobos went toe-to-toe with the Rebels on their home floor for most of the game. The decidedly more uptempo pace was a stark contrast to UNM's 91-82 loss in the Thomas and Mack Center Saturday, when the Rebels shut down the Lobo offense down the stretch.
A five-day rest didn't phase Douglas, who posted 32 points against the Rebels earlier in the week and scored another 32 Thursday off of what seemed like an endless supply of Hail Mary buckets.
Douglas hit a running 3-pointer from about 40 feet away with time running out to send the Lobos into the locker room with a 51-49 halftime lead.
He came up big again on a 3-pointer with 14 seconds remaining in regulation, pushing UNM ahead 96-95 until UNLV's Marcus Banks hit a free throw to send the game to overtime.
In the first overtime, the Lobos fell behind 102-98 before staging a comeback. With the score 104-103, Douglas tried to win the game but was stripped by Marcus Banks, who was fouled. Banks hit one of two free throws to make the score 105-103 with seven seconds left.
Then, point guard Senque Carey put up the other heroic shot of the game, a reverse layup as time expired to tie the game at 105.
UNM guard Eric Chatfield matched Douglas' intensity, scoring 25 points but fouled out with eight seconds remaining in regulation. Post Pat Dennehy scored 24, Carey added 15 and Lightfoot picked up 11 to pace the Lobos.
Kelly posted a career-high 35 points to lead the Rebels. Banks added 26 points as five Rebels scored in double figures.
The Lobos' inbound plays, drives to the basket and strong shooting proved pivotal in keeping the team close. But turnovers, missed free throws, poor low post defense and fouls were too much to overcome.
UNM beat UNLV once this season, 84-81 in overtime at home Feb. 5.
UNM now turns its focus to a likely National Invitation Tournament bid with its early exit from the conference tournament, which offers an automatic NCAA Tournament bid, and too many losses to make an at-large bid an option.
Men's Mountain West Conference Tournament : The first round of the men's MWC Tournament was marked by three close games. Top-seeded University of Wyoming advanced to meet San Diego State University tonight. Host UNLV plays the University of Utah in the night cap.
Wyoming 69, Air Force 67 OT: Marcus Bailey scored 29 points to lead the Cowboys (21-7) past eighth-seeded Air Force Academy (9-19) 69-67 in overtime Thursday.
The game featured 21 ties and 19 lead changes. There was never more than a six-point gap between the teams.
San Diego State 62, BYU 51: Mike Mackell scored 20 points in the fifth-seeded Aztecs upset of fourth-seeded Brigham Young University 62-51 Thursday.
SDSU (19-11)lead 24-18 at halftime. BYU (17-11) got as close as 55-51 with 1:25 left.
Utah 69, Colorado St. 66: Jeff Johnsen scored 23 points and the Utes held off a late rally to beat the Rams 69-66 Thursday night.
The Utes (21-7) led 61-52 with 4:58 remaining, but the Rams came back and cut the margin to 68-66 with five second remaining.
CSU ended the season with a 12-18 record.
