What a finish! Lobos hit buzzer-beater to edge Nevada in 1,000th game in the Pit

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Jan. 4—New Mexico’s Nelly Junior Joseph picked up a loose ball and hit a 15-foot buzzer-beating jumper in overtime late Friday to give the Lobos an 82-81 win over Nevada in the 1,000th — and arguably one of the best — men’s basketball games played in the Pit.

Few endings in the nearly 60-year history of the iconic Albuquerque arena have been as dramatic.

“They followed Donnie (teammate Donovan Dent). He was on the floor, and I was like, ‘Oh my god,'” Junior Joseph, the Lobos’ senior center from Nigeria who had never hit a game-winning shot in his life, explained about the final, frantic moments.

“So I saw the ball was on the floor. I had to pick it up. I was just like, ‘Let me just shoot it.’ So, I shot it. And it went in. … I didn’t have time to think. I know there was like probably one second left, so I just took it, shoot it.”

In the moment between that Nike Elite basketball leaving the extended right hand of Junior Joseph and falling through the net, the game’s final buzzer sounded, only to be drowned out instantly by the roar of an announced Pit crowd of 14,622 who got what they came for, and then some.

“Certainly a great way to honor a historic, amazing building,” UNM coach Richard Pitino said of the win and the milestone of Friday being the 1,000th Lobo men’s basketball game played in the venue officially called University Arena.

“The building is obviously great, but the building is nothing without the unbelievable fans that we have. I am extremely grateful every single day that I get to coach in a community that really cares about Lobo basketball and about the Lobos and all the sports.”

The win pushes the Lobos to 12-3 overall on the season, including 8-1 in the Pit this season, and a perfect 4-0 in Mountain West play.

For Nevada, coached by former Lobo head coach Steve Alford whose Associate Head Coach Craig Neal is also a former Lobo head coach, the gut-punch loss — not unlike the one they gave the Lobos two years ago at the buzzer in the Pit — drops the…

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Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/finish-lobos-hit-buzzer-beater-150100644.html

Author : Albuquerque Journal, N.M.

Publish date : 2025-01-04 15:01:00

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