The New Mexico State men’s basketball fell short on the road against the Sam Houston Bearkats this Thursday, losing 79-67. The Aggies entered the game off a two-game win streak at home and are now 3-2 in conference play, placing them third overall in the conference. The Bearcats rose to 4-1 in the conference and sit in second place under Louisianna Tech. The Aggies remain winless on the road, having lost all eight of their away games so far this season.
The starters for the night were: senior guard Jordan Rawls, graduate student forward Kaosi Ezeagu, junior guard Jaden Harris, junior guard Christian Cook and junior forward Robert Carpenter.
The Bearkats quickly got on the scoreboard with a three-pointer from Damon Nicholas Jr. before Ezeagu broke through the paint for a strong dunk. The Aggies kept it close in the first half and never trailed by more than 10 points.
Early on, the Bearkats tallied a 10-2 run fueled by another three from Nicholas Jr. for a comfortable 13-4 lead. The Aggies responded with a 22-6 run of their own to take the lead with senior guard Femi Odukale leading the effort with seven points. After trading baskets, the Bearkat’s Lamar Wilkerson capped off a 14-7 run to send the Aggies trailing 38-37 into halftime.
The second half saw both teams continue to go back and forth on offense after Robert Carpenter nailed the Aggies first basket. The Bearkats were the first to go on a run with 11 points compared to the Aggies’ four.
The Aggies retaliated with a 12-6 run to shorten the lead to 55-53 with six points coming from Jordan Rawls. The Bearkats did not let up after Rawls’ continued effort put the Aggies within three points of tying the game at 62-59. The Aggies were outscored 17-8 in the final stretch of the game leading to their 79-67 defeat.
The deciding factors for the Aggies were the seven second chance points they had compared to the Bearkats’ 18 and a poor shooting percentage of 42.1% from the field and 20% from the three-point line.
The leading scorers for the night were Rawls with 18 points followed by senior guard Odukale Femi with 17. Femi and Ozeagu led the team with seven total rebounds each. The team shot 15-16 from the free-throw line, with Femi shooting 6-6. Their accuracy from the field and three-point line was a different story only going 24-57 and 4-20 respectively.
The Aggies will remain on the road to face off against the LA Tech Bulldogs at 1 p.m. on Saturday at the Thomas Assembly Center in Ruston, Louisiana. The Aggies will then return home on Thursday, Feb. 1 to battle against the Liberty University Flames at 7 p.m. All coverage will be streamed on ESPN + and Zia Country 99.5 FM.
