Men’s Basketball: NMSU survives test from Seattle to advance to WAC title game

The NMSU men’s basketball team appeared to be headed for an easy victory early in their WAC Tournament semifinal matchup against Seattle University, but they had to rally late to secure a spot in the WAC title game.

The Aggies defeated the Redhawks by a final of 84-79 Friday night in Las Vegas to book a spot in the championship game against Grand Canyon.

Zach Lofton led the Aggies with 31 points while Jemerrio Jones added 12 points and 22 rebounds to set a new record for rebounds in a single game in the WAC Tournament.

Lofton gave the Aggies an early 18-5 lead after he hit his third three-pointer of the game. But Seattle would rally and take a 43-37 lead into the break.

The teams traded blows in the second half, but NMSU managed to pull away late to secure the win.

Keyon Jones hit a three-pointer with just over two minutes to go to put the Aggies up by six, effectively sealing the win.

The Aggies connected on 12 of their 23 attempts from downtown (52.2%) with Lofton hitting six threes of his own.

NMSU and Grand Canyon will tip-off at 8 p.m. MST Saturday on ESPNU with a spot in the NCAA Tournament at stake.

The Aggies defeated GCU in both meetings during the regular season.