On a night full of turquoise-accented jerseys the New Mexico men’s basketball team found itself in a dogfight with Cal State Fullerton.
The Lobos led almost the entire game, but could never seem to shake the pesky Titans. Five straight free throws by sophomore guard Cullen Neal sealed the game for the Lobos in a 67-59 win on Saturday at the Pit.
The Lobos hit 9 of 12 free throws down the stretch and finished 24-36 from the line while the Titans shot seven, connecting on two of them.
“I’m proud that our guys hung in there and won the game,” head coach Craig Neal said. “It was one of those ones that you just couldn’t get a flow going. We didn’t come out really well.”
The Lobos (2-0) struggled in the first half against the Titans, but still managed to shoot 45 percent (9-20) from the field and 50 percent (2-4) from behind the three-point line. They finished the game shooting 48.7 percent (19-39) and 55.6 percent (5-9) from the three-point line.
Senior guard Hugh Greenwood saw his shots falling in the first half, but only shot twice in the second half. He finished with 11 points.
“I think Hugh would do whatever it takes to win,” Craig Neal said. “Hugh is so selfless that it’s not a big thing if he doesn’t get a lot of shots.”
Redshirt sophomore forward Devon Williams chipped in with a halftime buzzer-beating layup and finished the first half with six points on 2-2 from the floor, 2-2 from the free throw line. He finished with seven points and four rebounds.
At the half, the Lobos led 31-23 and Greenwood led all scorers with 11 points, four rebounds and one assist.
After a poor shooting performance in the first half, Cullen Neal came out in the second and hit 3 of 4 shots from the field, all of which were three-pointers. He finished the game with 23 points, 21 of them coming in the second half.
Craig Neal walked down the ramp sporting black and turquoise plaid slacks while the Lobos wore their Nike N7 jerseys.
“Nike takes care of us,” Neal said. “They knew we were doing the N7 game, and I told them to find me some turquoise pants, so this is what I found.”
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The jerseys were auctioned off at halftime, and proceeds go to both the UNM American Indian Student Services and the Notah Begay III Foundation (NB3). The twelve game-worn jerseys raised $4,430 for the two organizations.
The Lobos will face Boston College on Nov. 20 in the ESPN Puerto Rico Tip-Off. They will return to The Pit on Nov. 30 to face the USC Trojans.
Kyle Tomasi is a sports reporter for the Daily Lobo. He can be reached at sports@dailylobo.com or on Twitter @KyTo22.
