Senior Anthony Mathis got hot from beyond the arc and led the Lobos with 23 points to carry UNM to an 85-75 victory. Scott Forman/The Lobo Lair
Isabel Gonzalez
@cisabelg
The game was hard to watch (literally) but the New Mexico men’s basketball team pulled an 85-75 victory over the Bradley Braves on Saturday night.
While the ESPN+ stream wasn’t working properly, Lobo fans weren’t able to watch the Braves 11-0 start. New Mexico finally scored from a Vladimir Pinchuk jumper when the clock read 16:44. It took them almost 100 seconds before they scored again from a Karim Ezzeddine jumper.
But the slow start wasn’t how the rest of the game would go for the Lobos. Senior Anthony Mathis got hot from beyond the arc during this first period and made six three-pointers to lead all scorers with 18 points.
With seven minutes remaining, it was a Mathis three-pointer that gave the Lobos their first lead of the night at 24-22. Bradley did manage to tie the score, but New Mexico never fell behind again.
By halftime, New Mexico had a 41-32 lead. The Lobos were only shooting at 39.5 percent from the field during the first period, while the Braves did a little better at 46.2 percent.
During the second half, the Lobos led by as much as 15 points during two different occasions. Mathis hit one more three-pointer and eventually finished the night with 23 points.
It was Corey Manigault and Dane Kuiper who stepped up offensively during the second period. They scored 12 and 11 points in the half, to finish with a total of 18 and 15 points respectively. Manigault finished with a double-double as he also collected 11 rebounds.
After Saturday’s result, the Lobos are 4-1 overall. This game was the first of three straight road games for New Mexico. Up next, the Lobos travel to Las Cruces for the second round of the Rio Grande Rivalry against the New Mexico State Aggies.
Notes
- Mathis has now scored four more more three-pointers in each game this season (he had scored four three-pointers in each of the first four games).
- Assistant coach Jerome Robinson was inducted into the Bradley Athletics Hall of Fame during halftime.
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