LAS CRUCES, N.M. – The Western New Mexico University men's basketball team forced 21 turnovers against Division I New Mexico State University Monday in exhibition action as the Aggies came away with the 80-39 victory.
WNMU connected on 15 field goals, including five from three-point range and held a plus-five advantage in turnover differential. NMSU used a solid plus-39 rebound advantage and made 47 percent from the floor to collect the win.
The Aggies raced out to the early 10-0 lead when
Carter Aby (San Tan Valley, AZ/Combs) got the Mustangs on the board hitting a three at the 16:05 mark. Aby would go on to tally three more points to score the first six for WNMU before a three-pointer by
Adam Kesler (Silver City, NM/Silver) and back-to-back layups by
Emery Range (Grand Rapids, MI/Willow Canyon) help cut the deficit back to 17, 30-13, with 7:26 to go before the break.
Brandon Williams (Long Beach, CA/Los Angeles Prep) trimmed the lead back to 15 for NMSU at 32-17 on a jumper with five minutes to go before halftime as the Aggies would outscore the Mustangs by just six down the stretch to take a 43-22 lead into the locker rooms.
Just like the start of the game, NMSU came out with a solid run, this one a 10-0 variety to take a 53-22 lead three minutes into the second half. A few minutes later, WNMU strung together a 7-0 run with a pair of three's by Williams and
Steven Loucks (Yuma, AZ/Cibola), before a tip-in by Aby had the Mustangs back to within 26.
That would be as close as WNMU would get the rest of the way with NMSU taking the 80-39 win.
Aby led the way with eight points, making 3-of-8 from the field. Kesler and Loucks posted seven points apiece. Range pulled down a team-high six boards, while
Adam Saenz (Benson, AZ/Benson) had the only block and had a team-high three steals.
Pascal Siakam led the Aggies with 17 points going 6-of-9 from the field. Tanveer Bhullar grabbed 12 rebounds.
WNMU will continue their exhibition part of the schedule when they play at Division I Arizona State University on Saturday beginning at noon.
