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New Mexico Lobos & Air Force Falcons enter the series struggling.
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Which team was able to reserve course here?
Shockingly enough, there was plenty of scoring game one between two teams that have struggled mightily recently. The first half resulted in a seven-point New Mexico lead at 32-25, offense was a bit of a struggle there.
In the 2nd half, nobody could miss. UNM scored 41 in half number two, while AFA scored 40. If you add that up, you’ll see New Mexico was able to win the game by eight to win only their second conference game.
Makauch Maluach continued to produce big numbers with 22 for the Lobos, along with Valdir Manuel contributing 14 points on 7/7 shooting. Saquon Singleton did a tremendous job setting the offense doing his best Andre Miller impersonation with 13 dimes.
AFA’s star guard, A.J. Walker went off for 26 points, with a pleasant surprise of Abe Kinrade dropping 15 points.
Final here at Air Force as Manuel goes a perfect 7-for-7 from the floor on the night as one of three Lobos to score in double digits! #GoLobos pic.twitter.com/SlLu237qTv
— Lobo Basketball (@UNMLoboMBB) February 23, 2021
Now heading into game two, will the offensive output be replicated?
The first-half sure didn’t make it look that way with Air Force leading at the break by eight, at 29-21. Air Force started the game on a 15-2 run in the first seven minutes of game action.
We saw more offensive action in the 2nd half, but not until later in the game
Ten minutes into the 2nd half, the score was 38-34, not exactly an offensive masterpiece by any means. At the under four break the score was 48-42 following a pair of A.J. Walker free throws.
In the final four minutes there was a combined 27 points with some late fouls to extend the game, but New Mexico did a tremendous job trying to stay in the game after being down 10 points with three minutes left. The Lobos were able to cut the deficit to five after a few Emmanuel Kuac three-pointers, but they were never able to get closer than five.
The Air Force Academy snagged their first win in over a month. Their last win prior to today was January 19th against Wyoming.
Air Force won the game 62-55.
Freshman, Joseph Octave had a tremendous game dropping a career-best 18 points on 7-9 shooting. I loved what I saw from Octave, Joe Scott could have something special there.
Makuach Maluach scored 20 once again, continuing to be the only consistent force of offense.
The two worst teams in the conference ended up having an entertaining series. Building momentum for next season.
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