ALBUQUERQUE — Leave it to a former pair of Lobos to add some drama and nearly — but not quite — spoil a celebratory night in The Pit. And in true Pit fashion, the unforgettable ending to Friday night’s game, fans headed home talking about a game that will echo forever in Lobos lore. Nelly Junior Joseph’s buzzer-beating one-hander from the free throw line as overtime ended gave the New Mexico men’s basketball team an 82-81 heart-stopping win over visiting Nevada.
That’s the same Nevada team that blew into town with its proverbial back to the wall after losing its first three games in Mountain West play. The Wolf Pack played most of the night like the poised, polished and dangerous team it was advertised as being before the season. In the end, it was a little Pit magic that won the day.
Down 81-80 after a pair of Kobe Sanders free throws with 30 seconds left, the Lobos turned it over on their next possession when Donovan Dent got tied up on a drive. The Pack gave it right back on a bad inbounds pass by Sanders, leading to a wild, frantic, incredible final 11 seconds when Joseph chased down the ball in the backcourt, gave it to Mustapha Amzil and eventually to Dent. The Lobos’ dynamic guard lost his footing and fell to the floor a time wound down, but somehow slipped the ball through a host legs and into Joseph’s hands.
He did the rest by draining a buzzer- beater that sent the Pit into a frenzy that rivaled any other in the building’s history. “It’s some.
