Outlook bright after win No. 2

The lights finally went out during the UNM men’s basketball team’s player introductions, and the Lobos team kept Division III Manchester College in the dark.

Coming off the bench, point guard Jamal Fenton directed the Lobos’ offense into high gear. He led all scorers with a career-high 18 points, and the Lobos rolled over the Spartans 107-62 on Saturday at The Pit.

“He brings a lot of energy,” head coach Steve Alford said. “He gives us a different dimension. He can harass guards, and he’s got a lot of deflection for us, and he can make shots. He’s a momentum changer coming off the bench for us.”

In 19 minutes of play, Fenton was a perfect 8-of-8 from the free-throw line, had four assists, five steals and dazzled fans with a bevy of no-look passes. The Lobos shot 52 percent from the field, and held Manchester to just 32 percent.
Fenton said he is a breath of fresh air when he replaces senior point guard Dairese Gary.

“I bring some quickness to the game and try to get the crowd back into it sometimes,” Fenton said. “Dairese is just our general. He is like my big brother. I just try to follow him.”

The Lobos started their final exhibition game much like their first: slow.
The offense missed its first three field-goal attempts before forward A.J. Hardeman scored UNM’s first points on a contested layup. In the opening minutes, UNM was down two. But before long, the Lobos went on a 10-2 run, and the rout was on.

“Eleven guys played, and I think everyone got three or more shots. It looks like we’re deep,” Alford said. “We got a lot of combination, and for the first time, I can really use that bench as motivation. We can rotate a lot of guys, and can go big, or we can play five guards.”
UNM entered the half up 57-27. The Lobos extended their 30-point lead after two quick field goals from Philip McDonald and Curtis Dennis in the second half. McDonald eventually left the game with a bruised elbow, Alford said.

Playing catch-up for much of the night, Manchester attempted NBA-range 3-pointers throughout the night. Guard Mitch Schaefer found his favorite spot in the corner, his feet inches away from the out-of-bounds line. The Spartans would have been better off moving closer to the college line, as they shot just 12-of-36 from long range.

With fewer than 12 minutes remaining in the second half, Manchester cut the Lobos’ lead to 23 after a 14-0 run.
“There is always slippage (in the first few games),” Alford said. “I would much rather play fast now than slow. I will slow them down when we have to slow them down.”

Manchester never drew closer.
Emmanuel Negedu came off the bench and had a game-high eight rebounds. He finished with six points and a block. Manchester’s Tyler Delauder led the Spartans with 17 points.

Alford said kinks still need to be ironed out before the official season opener.
“These are things that we have to do as coaches to point out to (the players) and that are helpful to them,” he said. “If there was a negative in this game, I thought it was our transition defense.”