Lobo head coach Ritchie McKay may have finally found his optimal lineup.
The starting five of seniors Alfred Neale, Danny Granger and Troy DeVries along with juniors Mark Walters and David Chiotti played 180 of a possible 200 minutes in the Lobos' 63-52 win over Air Force on Monday night at The Pit.
They looked like they'd been playing together since preschool.
"With those guys on the floor, offensively, we've got a lot of weapons out there," McKay said. "You've got to kind of pick your poison."
The new starting squad paid off immediately with a torrid 11-0 run to start the game that showed the players were in sync at both ends of the floor.
Just two plays in for UNM, Walters hit Neale for the first of the forward's three alley-oop dunks of the night. Neale followed his highlight-real jam with a three-pointer and then a put-back to put the team up double digits.
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At the same time, the Lobos' defense choked up on the Falcons, forcing shot-clock violations on their first two possessions. Granger blocked a lay-up moments later, but it seemed that even when they had it easy, the Falcons couldn't find the net. Air Force guard Antoine Hood missed a wide-open lay-up that would have ended the Lobos' opening run.
"We mostly focused on our defense going in," Neale said. "We just try to let the offense flow."
Though Air Force looked frazzled and out of sync in the game's first seven minutes, the team fought back in the first half, cutting slowly through the 11-point lead.
The Lobos went into the half up just two points on a buzzer-beating lay-up by Chiotti.
McKay said even after the strong start, he knew it wouldn't be an easy win.
"I haven't seen Air Force knocked out all year," McKay said. "We knew they were going to make a run."
The second half went almost as well as the first for UNM, which took a 14-point lead with 10 minutes left on a Granger three-point play.
Later, with the gap closed to nine, the Lobos transformed into the Harlem Globetrotters.
Granger dribbled the ball through an Air Force press and hit a wide-open Neale for another alley-oop.
On their next play, DeVries faked a pass to Chiotti on a fast break that would have seemingly led to a wide-open dunk. Instead he brought the ball back and dropped a smooth bouncer back to Chiotti for the dunk he'd been waiting for.
Just one minute later, Granger went right past his man from outside the three-point line and drove straight to the hoop for a one-handed slam that no Falcon defender could touch.
The five veteran starters all made the necessary plays when they had to.
It was Neale's first start since Granger returned from injury two weeks ago.
"Al has had a great week of practice, and since Danny and David have been healthy, he's played tremendously well," McKay said. "Danny gets so much attention from the defense that Al gets a little more space to work with. He's playing like a senior should."
Granger had 17 points and 14 rebounds. Neale led all scorers with 18.
