On Monday night, the stellar and passionate play by two freshman guards aided the UNM men's basketball recuperation from the untimely loss of senior captain Senque "Q" Carey -- that is, for the time being.
Red shirt freshman guard Mark Walters and walk-on freshman guard Jeff Hart displayed their young talent and toughness in an edge-of-the-seat thriller. The Lobos prevailed 90-88 over the Northeastern Huskies in front of a stagnant 13,897 fans.
The Lobos jumped out to an early 15-7 lead at the 15:21 mark. At that point, Carey, who has not regained feeling from the waist down in an on-court collision a week ago, was rolled down to The Pit floor in front of a standing ovation. The fans, which were given Carey cards, held them up and chanted his name.
The emotion sparked the Lobos to a 30-18 lead, led by an onslaught of trifectas.
But just like the previous three games, the Lobos fell into the doldrums. With Ruben Douglas on the bench with two fouls, the Huskies unveiled a half court trap that caused UNM fits.
"I give Northeastern a lot of credit," Head coach Ritchie McKay said. "They kept fighting, they used a trap that they hadn't shown all year and we weren't prepared for it."
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The trap caused seven Lobo turnovers in the final seven minutes of the half, aiding Northeastern back into the game. The score at halftime was 38-36, UNM.
In the second half, both teams caught fire. The Huskies shot a blitzing 58 percent from the floor, while the Lobos shot a blistering 53 percent. In a game without much defense, UNM turned to its small lineup and fired away. With the help of Douglas' season-high 30 points, Walters and Hart took the spotlight.
"Jeff Hart got 31 minutes tonight and he didn't play like a freshman," McKay said. "I thought he was solid."
Walters, using his hustle, circus leaping ability and no fear defense matched the brilliant shooting of Northeastern. With 4:09 left in the game, Walters came flying through the lane to tip in a Javin Tindall's missed 3-pointer. He later dove to the floor several times after loose balls and rebounded the offensive glass like former Lobo human highlight reel Wayland White.
"I always try to go to the boards," said Walters. "Tonight, I was in the right place at the right time. Just trying to get that ball."
His tenacious D and rebounding complemented Hart's offense. Hart only scored two points in the first half, but found his rhythm in the second half. At the 15:49 mark of the second period, Hart dribbled the ball left wing, swept across the lane to the right side and laid the ball in uncontested. With 7:39 remaining on a fast break, Douglas found Hart in the corner and he drained a 3-pointer giving the Lobos a 67-60 lead. On the next inbounds play, the ball was thrown over the top to freshman forward David Chiotti, who found Hart on a textbook back-door pass, who then laid it in giving UNM a 10-point advantage.
The Huskies would not die as they got the ball to their hot shooters, Jose Juan Barea and Javorie Wilson. Those two finished the game a combined 15-27 from the field for 43 points. Barea was unstoppable the entire game until the final play.
With the Lobos down one, 10 seconds on the game clock and 7.7 seconds on the shot clock, Douglas redeemed his mistake against the Aggies.
"I have confidence in myself," Douglas said. "The other night was a debacle. I don't know how it happened and I don't want to discuss it. That was garbage."
Douglas pump faked, drove left wing to the basket, ran into a defender under the basket but managed to put the ball through the hoop. The referee called a block on the defender and Douglas buried the free throw, putting UNM up 90-88.
Douglas raked in 30 points for the game, 24 coming in the second half and pulled down six boards.
