Men’s Hoops: NMSU’s defense shines in win over CSU Bakersfield

The NMSU men’s basketball team improved to 21-3 overall and 8-0 in WAC play with a 69-43 victory over CSU Bakersfield Thursday night at the Pan American Center.

The Aggies held the Roadrunners to just 18 points in the first half. CSU Bakersfield only managed to connect on 25.5% of their field goal attempts and only made two of their 21 attempts from deep.

NMSU’s defense allowed them to survive an off-shooting night themselves. The Aggies shot just 23-67 from the field (34.4%) but still managed to leave with a 26-point win.

Zach Lofton paced the Aggies with 14 points and was the only member of the team to reach double figures. However, 11 different players scored for NMSU in the game.

Jemerrio Jones tallied 20 rebounds for the second game in a row and has now recorded at least 10 rebounds in 10 of the team’s last 11 games.

NMSU’s win streak now stands at 10 games after the win. They Aggies have also won 15 of their last 16 contests.

CSU Bakersfield fell to 10-14 overall and 3-6 in WAC play with the loss.

NMSU will next meet Grand Canyon at the Pan American Center on Saturday at 7:00 p.m.