NMSU Sweeps the Season Series Against UTEP

After a red hot 6-0 start the Miners have lost four in a row following a 73-53 defeat to NMSU on Saturday night.  The Aggies swept the season series, and in doing so snapped a three game losing streak of their own.  NMSU finished the game with a ferocious 25-10 run over the final 11 minutes of the contest.  The Aggies also began the game by scoring the first 14 points to put the Miners in a hole early.

UTEP overcame their mediocre start to the game by taking a 31-29 lead with 57 seconds left in the first half thanks to a Omega Harris three pointer.  The Aggies regained the lead at the half after an Ian Baker three pointer and never relinquished their lead throughout the remainder of the game.

Despite the loss, the Miners have room for optimism as Omega Harris scored a career high 23 points off the bench in his first game of the season.  The rest of the team did a subpar job of supporting Harris' remarkable outing as they went 12 for 44 from the field to shoot 27.3 percent.  UTEP's top scorers Lee Moore, Earvin Morris, Hooper Vint, Dominic Artis and Terry Winn shot 23.5 percent from the field.

The Miners were outrebounded again, this time by a 38-27 margin.  With the loss, the Miners move to 6-4 on the season, and will host Norfolk State on Monday night in their opening game of the WestStar Bank Don Haskins Sun Bowl Invitational.

On Tuesday UTEP will play either Sam Houston State or UC Irvine to conclude their annual tournament.  With conference play just around the corner, it is vitally important for the Miners to regain some of the momentum they had during their first several games of the season, or else the remainder of the season could be an up hill battle to say the least.