Senior guard Hugh Greenwood and sophomore guard Cullen Neal combined to score the team’s first 23 points, nine of which came off of three straight 3-pointers by Greenwood.
Fans saw a new gesture out of Greenwood, who lifted his right hand up to his eye while holding up three fingers, after he knocked down his 3-pointers.
“It’s getting my breast cancer ribbon involved,” said Greenwood, who has a pink ribbon tattoo on his hand. “I kind of just improvised it.”
Head coach Craig Neal said he was happy with his team’s defensive performance overall, but there is still room for improvement.
“I thought they did a really good job after the first four-minute timeout,” he said. “We just (have to) continue to be solid, get in the stance, do the little things and jump to the ball. If we continue to do that we will be a pretty good defensive team because of our length.”
The Lobos scored 16 unanswered points late in the first half and finished the half on a 26-3 run.
Cullen Neal led all scorers with 22 points and chipped in eight assists while only turning the ball over once. Greenwood scored 18 points, 14 of which came in the first half.
“I came out trying to be aggressive and send a message early,” Greenwood said. “Once I got my shots up, I tried to get the others involved because that’s what it’s all about.”
The Lobos shot 49.2 percent from the field while holding the Mustangs to a mere 27.8 percent on the night. The team shot 8-26 (30.8 percent) from 3-point range, missing all 10 attempts in the second half.
The Lobos had four men score 10 points or more, three of whom were starters.
Freshman guard Sam Longwood did not play due to an illness he sustained late last week. He will be evaluated on Monday and will be on day-to-day status leading up to Friday’s game against Adams State, the last of two exhibition games.
Get content from The Daily Lobo delivered to your inbox
Junior forward Jordan Goodman also did not play due to a knee injury he sustained in the offseason. Coach Neal said that he will not dress out for a game until he gets five or six practices under his belt.
Freshman guard Xavier Adams rolled his ankle as the halftime buzzer sounded but walked off the court under his own power. He returned to the game in the second half and Neal said it is not a serious injury.
The Lobos will host Adams State on Friday night at The Pit. This will be their final exhibition game before regular-season play begins at The Pit against Idaho State on Nov. 14.
Kyle Tomasi is a sports reporter for the Daily Lobo. He can be reached at sports@dailylobo.com or on Twitter @KyTo22.
