LOBOS WIN OT THRILLER
Beating Fresno State gives UNM third seed at tourney
Sam Logwood’s deep, bass voice was hard to hear over the oft-criticized sound system on Saturday night in Dreamstyle Arena.
So when the 6-foot-8 Lobo senior stopped talking during a postgame Senior Night speech while thanking University of New Mexico men’s basketball head coach Paul Weir for helping him mature this season, it wasn’t even noticeable at first.
Then he leaned over, microphone in hand, and started to cry, his teammates and coaches were quick to his side to hug him.
The moment was a telling culmination of emotions for Logwood, one of two four-year Lobos and four Lobos (three players and a team manager) who were honored after the team held on for a nerve-racking 95-86 overtime win over the Fresno State Bulldogs on Saturday night in front of an announced Pit crowd of 13,069.
The victory secured a third-place finish in the Mountain West Conference’s regular season.
“I didn’t know Sam liked me very much, so that was good to hear,” Weir later told reporters.
“It’s been a long year for all of us. These kids have worked harder than anyone will ever know. They probably wondered what it is they were doing and why they were doing it. But they kept doing it. This is thankfully some of the reward for that.”
Logwood and fellow four-year senior Joe Furstinger, who talked to reporters after the game about the feeling of having his coach’s confidence for the first time in his college career, both contemplated leaving UNM a year ago before a coaching change brought in Weir.
As for Saturday’s game, the Lobos (17-14, 12-6) looked like the hottest team in the league for 34 minutes, the one that will carry a fivegame win streak into next week’s Mountain West Conference tournament. They will play in Thursday’s quarterfinals in Las Vegas, Nev., against the winner of a Wyoming-San
Jose State first-round game.
But while UNM led almost throughout the game and by as many as 14 points in the second half, and still by double digits in the final six minutes, the wheels nearly came off to ruin the Senior Night festivities before they could reach their emotional finish.
Fresno State’s Jahmel Taylor scored 15 of his team-high 23 points in the final 5:48 of regulation, the tying 3-pointer coming with 17 seconds left.
“That backcourt is special,” Weir said of Fresno State’s guards. “Both those guys gave us a lot of problems.”
Taylor and teammate Deshon Taylor each scored 23 points for the Bulldogs (21-10, 11-7).
But Weir insists his team never panicked down the stretch — “we just made some physical mistakes” — even while the game turned ugly.
“We’re not expecting any game in the tournament to be easy at all,” Weir said. “Just to go through another adverse situation is a positive for us.”
The Lobos looked fresher in the overtime, outrunning the ’Dogs 14-5 in the five-minute period.
Five Lobos scored in double figures led by junior Anthony Mathis’ 23 points on 8-of-9 shooting. He was 5-for-5 from 3-point range.
NOTES: Three senior players (Jackson, Furstinger and Logwood) and one senior manager (Curtis McCurdy) were honored in a postgame ceremony.
■ The 13,069 announced attendance was the second highest of the season in the Pit (13,207 vs. Arizona on Dec. 16).