New Mexico State rallies past CSUB

Brown leads the way in WAC triumph

LAS CRUCES — Terrell Brown scored 16 of his 19 points in the second half to help New Mexico State overcome a 12-point deficit and beat CSU Bakersfield 73-62 on Saturday.

Brown finished with a seasonhigh eight rebounds, and made 4 of 6 from the field, including three 3-pointers, and 8 of 10 from the free-throw line.

Shunn Buchanan had 12 points and eight assists — both of which are season bests — while Eli Chuha added 10 points and 11 rebounds for New Mexico State (13-4, 2-1 Western Athletic Conference).

Buchanan hit two rapid-fire 3s and then Brown scored seven consecutive points in a 13-0 run that gave New Mexico State its first lead and made it 40-36 with

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14 minutes to go. There were five lead changes and one tie before Keyon Jones made a 3-pointer to spark a 14-2 spurt that gave the Aggies a 10-point lead with 1:20 left and they made 5 of 6 free throws from there to seal the victory.

Rickey Holden had 19 points and Jarkel Joiner scored 18 for CSUB (11-6, 3-1).

New Mexico State missed 13 of its first 17 shots as the Roadrunners took a 12-point lead with 4 minutes left in the first half. Brown hit a 3 to trim the deficit to 29-22 at the break and the Aggies shot 61 percent (14 of 23) from the field, including 6 of 12 from 3-point range, and made 17 of 20 free throws in the second half.

“Obviously we didn’t get off to a very good start, they jumped us early, killing us on the backboards and we were struggling to just pass and catch the ball,” NMSU coach Chris Jans said.

“Their pressure really got to us. We certainly talked about that stuff leading up to the game, but it was a quick turnaround after a hard-fought game the night before.”