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HONOLULU – Jahmar Young buried a jumper with 0.9 seconds remaining to give New Mexico State a 71-69 win over Hawai`i Thursday night at the Stan Sheriff Center. The Rainbow Warriors dropped to 9-10 overall and 2-4 in the Western Athletic Conference.
Young finished with a game-high 24 points as the Aggies (12-7, 5-1 WAC) moved into a first-place tie with Louisiana Tech. Backcourt mate Jonathan Gibson added 19 points to give the Aggies their fourth straight win over the 'Bows and 10th in 12 all-time meetings.
For the second straight home game UH went down to the wire with its opponent, though this time the 'Bows found themselves on the wrong end. UH squandered a double-digit lead in the second half, battled back to take the lead late, but couldn't hold on.
Behind an inspired effort by Flemings, UH led by as many as 14 points in the first half before taking a 40-28 lead at the break. Flemings scored 15 first-half points, while leading the way on the boards as the 'Bows out-rebounded the Aggies, 27-14.
But the Aggies came out strong out of the locker room, taking less than five minutes to erase UH's double-digit lead. NMSU scored 16 unanswered points to go up 45-42.
The rest of the game went back in forth with six ties and six lead changes.
The 'Bows led by one point with less than 90 seconds left but the Aggies scored four straight points to take a 69-66 lead.
Hiram Thompson nailed a huge 3-pointer to tie the game with 12.9 seconds left, setting up the dramatic finish with Young hitting a jumper from the right wing.
The UH bench outscored New Mexico State 32-0, but ultimately struggled against NMSU's pressure defense, committing 17 turnovers. The Aggies capitalized and out-scored the 'Bows 21-6 off turnovers.
Hawai`i next hosts Louisiana Tech on Saturday, Jan. 23. Tipoff is 7:05 p.m. at the Stan Sheriff Center.
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