LAS CRUCES, N.M.- In what has been a common theme against New Mexico State, the CSUB Roadrunners went on a six-minute scoring drought late in the second half while the Aggies converted on key three-pointers down the stretch snapping CSUB's four-game winning streak 63-55 Thursday night.
In a game dominated by defense the 'Runners (18-8, 8-3 WAC) held conference-leading scorer Pascal Siakam to a season-low six points on just 1-of-12 shooting, but struggled scoring themselves shooting just 28% from the field and just 3-of-18 from three-point range. Both teams went on scoreless droughts, but CSUB's came at the worst time opening the door for NM State (19-9, 10-1 WAC) to record their 34th-straight WAC home win.
“We didn't do well offensively…we didn't execute very well it was just not a very good game,” said CSUB head coach Rod Barnes. “It wasn't a well-played game from our standpoint and we've got to get ready to go to the next game.”
CSUB was handcuffed in the game early with quick-whistle technical fouls on Aly Ahmed and the bench. Another came in the second half on a similar questionable play. Both times the ensuing free-throws allowed NM State to take the lead. The fouls in the first half also put Ahmed on the bench for much of the game, he logged just four points in 20 minutes; just 11 minutes of play in the first half after picking up four fouls.
“Hopefully we'll get a chance to play them again in the tournament,” Barnes said. “There were just some things out there tonight that I thought were absolutely unreal and I won't allow my team or myself to participate in a situation if we get in this position again, it was just crazy what I thought happened out there tonight.”
The Roadrunners closed the first half on a 9-3 run and led 25-23 at the break, they held NM State scoreless for the final 2:43 of the first half and until the 17:11 mark when the Aggies scored their first second-half points. The Aggies took the lead for good with 7:31 remaining when Ian Baker, who hit the buzzer-beater to defeat CSUB in double-overtime on January 23rd, hit a one-handed three-pointer from the right wing as the shot clock expired. He led the Aggies with 15 points. That three sparked an 11-0 run for NM State who recorded a pair of back-to-back three-pointers from Braxton Huggins and a pair of Huggins free-throws. During that stretch the 'Runners were 0-for-7 from the field and were held without a field goal from the 8:38 mark until 1:11 remaining when Brent Wrapp scored two of his 11 points on a put-back layup that cut the NM State lead to nine.
Kevin Mays led Bakersfield with 13 points and nine rebounds. Neither team shot well in the contest with NM State held to just 17-of-51 from the field, good for 33-percent.
The loss drops CSUB two-games back of NM State in the league standings and into third place behind 9-2 Grand Canyon who defeated Missouri-Kansas City Thursday night. With Grand Canyon's ineligibility for the WAC Tournament, CSUB still holds a two-game lead for the second-seed after Seattle was defeated at UT Rio Grande Valley Thursday 77-67.
CSUB travels to UTRGV on Saturday night, tipoff is scheduled for 5 P.M. (PT) with radio coverage available on 1230 AM/98.1 FM ESPN beginning at 4:30 P.M.
