NM State stumbles, suffers rare home WAC loss to Stephen F. Austin

LAS CRUCES, N.M. - Up by double-digits with 13:37 to go, NM State saw its chances for a piece of the 2021-22 WAC regular-season crown slip through its hands for a second-straight game as visiting SFA used a second-half surge to obtain a 73-71 win over the Aggies Wednesday night inside the Pan American Center.

The loss, NM State's second in a row, dropped it into a three-way tie with SFA and Seattle U for the top spot in the league standings with one game remaining for each squad.

FIRST HALF
• Hoping to lock down the top seed for the WAC Tournament, NM State came out firing and hit the 'Jacks with a 5-0 run through the first two minutes of the tilt. SFA, however, was unfazed and answered with a 12-0 surge which culminated with Sadaidriene Hall's turnaround jumper with 13:49 to go in the frame.
• NM State battled back with a 7-0 run of its own, culminating with Will McNair Jr.'s one-handed stuff that knotted matters at 12-all with 10:28 left. The teams traded buckets from there, but the Aggies didn't grab the lead back until there were fewer than four minutes left in the stanza.
• Down 25-23, NM State turned to Johnny McCants to lead them back. The Las Cruces, N.M., product hammered home a dunk before heading to the foul stripe and swishing his two tries there with 3:05 left to hand the hosts a 27-25 edge.
• McCants also drained a big-time triple with 18 seconds to go, giving the Aggies a 32-27 lead at the break.
• NM State shot 50-percent (10-of-20) from the field in the first 20 minutes, helping to offset 10 turnovers.

SECOND HALF
• Though the Aggies managed to net the first bucket of the frame, SFA answered with an 8-0 run to take a 35-34 edge with 16:52 left.
• Giving the 'Jacks a run of their own, the Aggies took off on an 11-0 surge largely on the offensive strength of Allen. "Teddy Buckets" netted the first eight points of the Aggies' biggest scoring surge of the night before Will McNair Jr., splashed a big-time corner triple just before the shot clock expired to push the hosts' lead to 45-35.
• Seemingly in charge of things from there, the Aggies watched as SFA slowly but surely chipped away at the lead. A 20-9 run by the visitors which spanned 6:12 was powered by the inside-outside duo of Latrell Jossell and Calvin Solomon. Jossell started things by drilling back-to-back triples, while Solomon added six of his eight points in the contest through the game during that game-changing run.
• It was Solomon's free throw with 7:25 left which handed the 'Jacks a 55-54 lead. From there, the Aggies enjoyed the lead just once more, when Nate Pryor drained a difficult driving layup with 5:31 to go to make matters 59-57.
• David Kachelries answered with a big-time bucket of his own for the 'Jacks, splashing a go-ahead three-pointer on the wing with 5:10 left which gave the visitors the lead for the rest of the night.
• For a span of five minutes, the Aggies couldn't hit a single field goal. In that time, the 'Jacks built their lead to as many as six points, 67-61, with the clock reading 1:37. Finally, with 30 seconds to go, Virshon Cotton ended the Aggies' lengthy field goal drought with a fast-break triple that cut the 'Jacks' lead to three, 67-64.
• That three-pointer made things exceptionally more dramatic as Cotton continued his hot streak from downtown with another long ball that followed two SFA free throw makes. With the 'Jacks' lead down to two, 69-67, NM State gave up a fast-break dunk to Gavin Kensmil who seeped out behind the Aggies' defense with 15 ticks to go.
• Another two free throw makes, this time by Hall, pushed SFA's lead back to five, 73-68, with five seconds to go. On the Aggies' next possession, though, Cotton hit yet another three and was fouled with 1.5 seconds to go. Though he gave NM State a chance at a game-tying tip-in by missing his free throw try, Hall grabbed the rebound and iced the game away.

KEY PERFORMERS/STATISTICS OF NOTE
• McCants did all he could to make sure the Aggies remained in the thick of things all the way through the night. The Las Cruces, N.M., product finished with a career-high 20 points and put the finishing touches on a double-double with a game-high 10 rebounds and racked up a career-high six blocked shots.
• The ultra-efficient Cotton amassed 12 points - all on three-pointers - on a 4-of-4 showing from the field. He netted his season-high 12 in a shade under five minutes of action.
• Allen and McNair Jr., finished with 11 points apiece, but the former was saddled with foul trouble for most of the night which limited his availability.
• Though the Aggies did enjoy a 34-26 edge on the glass against the 'Jacks, free throw shooting wound up hurting the hosts. NM State put in just 56-percent (14-of-25) of its foul shots on the night.
• Jossell racked up a team-high 17 points for SFA and was one of three 'Jacks in double-digits. Winners of nine games in a row, the 'Jacks also received major contributions from Kensmil (15 points, six rebounds, three assists, three steals) and Hall (14 points, three steals).
• NM State saw its 32-game home winning streak in WAC play come to an end with Wednesday night's loss. Additionally, Aggie head coach Chris Jans dropped his first-ever home game in league action. His record in home WAC games now sits at 30-1.

COMING UP NEXT
• Despite the valleys of the last five days, NM State still has its sights set on at least a share of the 2021-22 WAC regular-season crown. The Aggies have their Pan American Center curtain call this season Saturday night at 7:00 p.m. when they tangle with Utah Valley. With a win, the Aggies would clinch a share of the WAC regular-season crown as well as the top seed for the 2022 WAC Tournament. NM State will honor its four seniors - Yuat Alok, Clayton Henry, Johnny McCants and Donnie Tillman - in a postgame ceremony.