The NMSU men’s basketball team fought hard against the UTEP Miners last night resulting in a 95-70 win. The Aggies got redemption after losing to UTEP Nov. 12.
NMSU point guard Anthony Roy scored the most points of the night with a total of 23 points. Other major scorers for the Aggies were Xavier Pinson, a senior, with 18 points and Issa Muhammad, redshirt junior, scoring 15.
In the first half, the Miners scored quickly, however, with plays by Pinson and Roy, the Aggies quickly passed them. Right at the start of the second half, Pinson scored a memorable three-pointer.
Three-pointers were a common theme in the second half of the game as Roy, point guard Kyle Feit, forward Marchelus Avery and redshirt senior James Beck all scored three-pointers for the Aggies as well. The crowd roared when each of the players scored and you could feel the energy radiating from the bleachers.
In a post-game press conference, Aggie head coach Greg Heiar said he was happy with the improvement he saw in his players during the game.
“We definitely got outplayed the first time and this time we played with a little bit more urgency,” Heiar said. “We were just a lot cleaner with the ball and their pressure didn’t affect us like it did at their place, so yeah, I was really pleased with the difference in both games.”
Heiar said the team is persevering through “hard times” in reference to the fatal shooting last weekend at the University of New Mexico involving Mike Peake, a member of the NMSU men’s basketball team. In response to the shooting, the game against the Lobos scheduled for this Saturday, Dec. 3, was canceled.
The next game for the Aggies will be on Monday, Dec. 5, at the Pan American Center against Simon Fraser University at 7 p.m. Aggie fans are encouraged to come out and support the team, as Heiar believes the players feed off of the crowd’s energy.
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