LAS CRUCES, N.M. — Bandja Sy drilled a 3-pointer with 3.2 seconds left and New Mexico State spoiled a second-half comeback to beat UT Arlington 69-66 on Saturday night.
The Mavericks rallied from a 15-point halftime deficit to take two leads late in the second half, including a 66-64 edge on Brandon Edwards’ baseline jumper with 15.1 seconds left that set the stage for Sy’s heroics from the deep wing.“You have to give our guys credit for battling back,” UT Arlington coach Scott Cross said. “The way they played, I can live with that. New Mexico State is a good basketball team.”The Mavericks are 17-12 overall and finished their lone Western Athletic Conference regular season in fourth place at 11-7. Up next for UT Arlington is the WAC tournament in Las Vegas. The fourth-seeded Mavericks open with No. 5 Utah State on Thursday night at 10:30.The Aggies (21-10, 14-4) enter the conference tourney as the third seed and will face Idaho.New Mexico State, which finished the regular season 15-1 at home, was led by Sy’s 19 points, and also got 12 points from K.C. Ross-Miller and 11 points from Daniel Mullings.Sim Bhullar contributed 12 rebounds and four blocked shots.UTA got 14 points and four steals from Kevin Butler and 11 points from Karol Gruszecki. Shaq White-Miller handed out eight assists.Have more to add? News tip? Tell us
