Saturday brought sweet redemption to Las Cruces as the Aggies (19-9) were, this time, victorious 55-51 over I-10 Rival UTEP (14-12) in front of 10,729 people in the Pan American Center. That is the highest attendance for a game in the PanAm since the 2008 WAC Tournament Championship.
It was also a Whiteout. The Southside Student Section was amazing.
Junior guard Kevin Aronis scored 11 points on 4-6 shooting (3-5 3-PT) to lead the Crimson and White. Every time he shot, it seemed to be clutch. Senior Bandja Sy had 10 points with 5 rebounds. Sim Bhullar added 6 points, 9 rebounds, and 3 blocks while Renaldo Dixon had 8 points and 8 rebounds.
An overlooked accomplishment... Freshman Sim Bhullar broke the New Mexico State single-season blocked shots record. He now has 60 this season. Another note: he played 37 minutes tonight. This is not a typo.
With 7:06 left to play, UTEP was up 48-39. NMSU then scored the next eight points to cut the deficit to 48-47 with 2:47 left to play.
Another 3-pointer for the Miners made the score 51-47 with 2:22 remaining... the last points of the night for them.
The play of the game happened with 2:05 left on the clock when Kevin Aronis made his third triple of the game to make the score 51-50. He then followed that shot with the go-ahead jumper from the wing to give the Aggies a 52-50 lead. A pair of free throws from Terrel de Rouen put NMSU up 54-51 with 24 seconds left.
UTEP had one last chance with 8 seconds left as C.J. Cooper hoisted up a three that didn't go in. Bandja Sy went to the free-throw line and made 1-of-2 with 1.7 seconds left to ice the victory.
When the final buzzer sounded, the Panamaniacs stormed the court to celebrate the victory.
In a very defensive first half, NMSU only led 17-14 at halftime.
For the game, the Aggies shot 18-47 (38.3%) and missed 9 free-throws (13-22; 59%)
Player of the Game: Kevin Aronis (11 pts, 3-5 3Pt)
Next Game: Saturday, March 2 @ Denver (18-8, 13-2) at 4:00 MT
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