New Mexico State Game *homecoming*

[golions]

Here's a game recap from the Lions website:

lmulions.cstv.com/sports/m-baskbl/recaps/111806aaa.html






GO LIONS! ;D

[Orange]

There is one observation I made. #5 Montgomery scared the crap out of me. His first effort on the court was like a walking nightmare . He was freely dropping the ball and happily passing to someone wearing a black jersey!

It wasn't until his first basket (I think a freethrow) until something finally sparked in him. He stopped making sloppy mistakes and could protect the ball. A complete turnaround for him and I hope he continues to improve. We can't afford him playing JV bball at this level.

[ironlions]

What a game! What a game! It was bedlam! Gersten was rocking. Refs were indescribably horrendous…55 fouls called. Tention gets ejected. Lions down 17. Worthy cramps up in both legs. Every time Monty has the ball I’m scared. We start chipping away. Please don’t throw stuff on the court. Worthy “man on fire”. Wow, we just tied the game after being down 17. “This is Hank’s house” chant! Grubb dunks and hits a massive 3. 14 seconds left. Worthy hits a miracle shot! The crowd rushes the floor. I slip past a security guard I’m jumping up and down in the middle of the pack. Worthy signs autographs for a NMST kid. Sportscenter top 10…Brandon Worthy LMU!
Go Lions!

[fanblade]

Excellent succinct summary you've got there!

I hope this momentum keeps up past Bakersfield and Alaska!

[ldawg]

Not much more to say other than this game was incredible! A lot of people will remember the theatrics of the refs, the crowd never giving up, and that miracle shot.

[hooliongan]

Loyolan writeup! ;D

"The Shot" goes in, Lions win
M. Basketball: Late game heroics highlight comeback victory.
Allison Hong
Issue date: 11/20/06 Section: Sports

Last year the New Mexico State University men's basketball program's 16-14 season tied for fourth-best turnaround in NCAA Division I basketball.

Friday night a turnaround was apparent, but in the other team on the court.

With the final seconds winding down, a Hail Mary 3-point shot by fifth-year senior Brandon Worthy hit the bottom of the net, lifting the Lions (3-1) to their 71-69 win over the NMSU Aggies (1-1).

The last time the two teams met was in the 1990 NCAA Tournament, in which the Lions captured a 111-92 win over the Aggies to advance to the second round.

This is not the first time a shot from the standout guard has given LMU a mid-game facelift, and, according to Worthy, it wasn't the first time he'd ever made such a shot.

"The funny thing is I hit a lot of crazy shots like that in practice. But it's without the fans, without the cameras, without the attention," he said. "When I got a look, when I could see the basket, I decided to shoot it up and follow through and when it got over the front of the rim I knew it had a chance.

The shot came with .9 seconds left on the clock and proved to be the game-winner after a similar Hail Mary shot attempted by NMSU's Justin Hawkins at the buzzer was blocked by Worthy.

The final seconds of the game, however, were hardly a microcosm of the entire 40-minute game, which was plagued by turnovers, low field goal percentages, fouls and technicals.

Seemingly mirroring last week's low shooting output against Mississippi State, the Lions made just nine of their 26 first-half field goals and one of six 3-pointers to enter the break down by 15 points, 43-28.

Four minutes into the second half, the Aggies extended their lead to 47-30. NMSU continued to lead by at least ten points for the next eight minutes before a dunk by fifth-year senior Derick Grubb pulled the Lions within nine at 64-55.

From then on, the Aggies offense was nearly non-existent as they had just one good field goal--a David Fisher dunk with 14 seconds left in the game--the rest of the game.

"I told [the team] at halftime, 'We did not play to our capabilities Monday night and we owe it to ourselves to play how we know we can play," Head Coach Rodney Tention said. "I don't know if it took me getting tossed to get them even more fired up about it, but big-time teams make big-time plays and that's what came out of them."

Technical fouls littered the game--one was given to the NMSU bench, one to Lion freshman Max Craig and two to the LMU bench. With 8:17 remaining in the second half, Tention was ejected from the game after receiving his second technical foul.

According to Tention, he watched the game from a television set in the locker rooms.

"As soon as the game was over I was the first one to meet them in the hallways," he said. "It was a quality opponent and a quality win for us."

Yesterday afternoon the Lions faced Cal State Bakersfield (0-3) in their last home game before heading to Anchorage, Alaska for the Carrs/Safeway Great Alaska Shootout
Leading the entire 40 minutes, the Lions got key production from senior Matthew Knight, who thus far into the season has been struggling with injuries and inconsistent shooting.

"The last few games I've been pretty quiet so I knew I had to step up," Knight, reigning WCC Player of the Week, said. "I just kind of lost confidence somehow in my shot."

Knight had his first double-double of the season with 26 points and 16 rebounds. Other significant contributions came from senior John Montgomery and junior Jon Ziri, Montgomery with seven points off the bench and Ziri with 12 points, his first double-digit contribution on the season.

With the two weekend wins the Lions improve to 3-1 on the season. The team leaves for Alaska today.

[fanblade]

Let me re-live the goodtimes!

We've gone through a lot of "frustration" this season but there were some great times to be a Lion! Look forward to some surprises next season.

Go Lions!

[fanblade]

An incredibly early heads up.

Three weeks from today CSTV will replay the LMU vs NMSU game (Saturday, July 21st 3:30pm/pst CSTV)

Re-live the terrible officiating (Libby hell), the turnovers, the technicals, the terror, the comeback, the shot, and Mr. B Worthy.

vs.

[lionspride]

Fanblade:

Thanks for the heads up. That was the most incredible game (theatrics were even better than the Gonzaga game this year....although the Zag game probably meant more to the team...we simply just "beat" the Zags straight out). Even though I have this game on TiVo, I will be watching again on CSTV on July 21.

__________________________________

How to increase attendance at LMU Basketball Games
1) Tell someone you know that does not attend games about LMU Basketball and have them join you at a game;
2) Call the athletic office and ask what they are doing to bring awareness of LMU basketball to the community (let alone its own student population)
3) Donate your tax deductible contribution specifically to LMU Men's Basketball and have it tagged for increased publicity.

[fanblade]

*bump* Time to set your DVRs or run down to the pub and demand they turn on CSTV to watch a great LMU game.

Correction: In my original bump I wrote that the game would be on at 6:30pm but did not clarify that was Eastern Standard Time. For Pacific Coast Time it is 3:30pm.

[Deleted]

Thanks for the reminder. Watching the game now.... the officiating was so awful how could I forget about that. Even the commentators couldn't stop talking about how bad it was. Tention getting thrown out was pretty clutch and the "bullsh*t" cry from the roar was very audible, I guess no 3 second delay on CSTV! Batteries thrown. Grubb dunk launching the run. Worthy just fearless. Crazy, I'm glad I got to experience the surreal comeback again.

CSTV has this as a "Fantastic Finishes" series, that's an understatement!

[scoop]

Just got done watching too. What a game. It just upsets me to think what could have been. That is the same NMSU team that gave Texas a run for its money in the NCAA tourney.