Seemingly left for dead just two weeks ago, the UNM men’s basketball team defeated Colorado State University 54-51 Saturday for its fourth straight win. With the victory, UNM is still in contention for the Mountain West Conference regular-season title.
The win in Fort Collins, Colo., coupled with the University of Nevada at Las Vegas’ loss to San Diego State Saturday, gives UNM (17-8, 6-5 MWC) sole possession of fourth place in the Mountain West. The Lobos have three games remaining, with tonight’s matchup against second-place University of Wyoming on ESPN’s “Big Monday” game and home games against Brigham Young University Thursday and the University of Utah Saturday.
“It was a gut check,” UNM head coach Fran Fraschilla said of Saturday’s win. “It’s very hard to win on the road this year because of the parity and veteran teams in the conference. We did just enough to steal a win in a tough environment.”
UNM guard Ruben Douglas hit a 3-pointer to tie the game at 48, then hit two lay-ups, the latter coming with 4:16 to play, to give the Lobos a 52-48 lead.
CSU’s Ron Grady hit a 3-pointer to cut UNM’s lead to 52-51, but Aki Palmer missed the front end of a one-and-one free-throw opportunity that would have tied the game.
UNM point guard Marlon Parmer then sank a short floater with 6.7 seconds left for the victory.
“I think Marlon controlled the game from the point guard spot and Ruben Douglas gave us a lift from the perimeter,” Fraschilla said. “The key, though, was the last ten minutes. They only scored two field goals on 17 possessions and had 10 turnovers.”
Douglas led all scorers with 23 points on eight-of-17 shooting, including six-of-12 from 3-point range, and Parmer scored 10 points and dished out five assists. Freshman Patrick Dennehy pulled down eight rebounds and was two-of-two from the floor to finish with five points.
The Lobos now trail Utah, whose 9-3 mark is tops in the league, Wyoming (8-3) and BYU (8-4). BYU and Utah visit UNM on Thursday and Saturday, respectively. Utah plays the Air Force Academy Thursday and BYU finishes its season Saturday against the Falcons. Wyoming plays UNLV and San Diego State on the road. The Lobos can put themselves in position to win the conference by winning its last three games, but Fraschilla was hesitant to say that UNM controlled its own destiny.
“I wouldn’t say we control it up here, they’re tough to play up here,” Fraschilla said.
Wyoming,’s only loss at home this year came against UNLV on a buzzer beater by Dalron Johnson.
Tip-off is set for 10 p.m., and the game can be heard on the radio on 770-KKOB AM.
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