A three-pointer in the final minute broke the tie to give Fresno State a 71-68 win over the visiting New Mexico Lobos men's basketball team Monday night.
Orlando Robinson sank the long ball to close out the night with 28 points as the Lobos (12-18 overall, 4-12 in the Mountain West) dropped one that saw New Mexico battle back from an 11-deficit early in the second half.
“I can’t complain with this effort. Overall, we played a terrific game and they just made one or two more plays down the stretch than we did,” Lobos head coach Richard Pitino said in a report on golobos.com.
The comeback was helped by Jamal Mashburn Jr.’s hot hand.
“Mash really got into a rhythm in the second half with his mid-range and I was surprised he missed the last one,” Pitino said. “He just had a terrific overall game, especially starting 0-for-8 from the floor. When the shot wasn’t falling, he got to the rim and got fouled. Then, when the shot was falling, he kept going.”
Behind Mashburn’s run, the Lobos took the lead about halfway through the second, and the team had a 5-point edge at the 8:00 mark before the Bulldogs (18-10, 8-7) rallied.
Mashburn ended the game with 27 points to lead the Lobos. Jaelen House added 18 and Javonte Johnson played strong on the boards, grabbing nine rebounds.