The sequence was not one seen often with the New Mexico Lobos this season.
With 5:56 left in Saturday?s game in Moby Arena at Colorado State, Lobos junior guard Elijah Brown stole the ball from Gian Clavell in the open court and sprinted for a wide-open a fast break where he laid the ball off the backboard for a pass and highlight reel dunk for teammate Joe Furstinger.
It gave UNM a 19-point lead with 5:53 remaining in what would wind up being an 84-71 road victory for the Lobos.
The sequence epitomized the good, and sometimes lacking side this season of the Jekyll and Hyde Lobos (10-8, 3-3 Mountain West), who are on the road Tuesday night against Boise State (11-5, 4-1).
The unlikely play seemed to close the door on much hope of the Rams stringing together a huge rally like Nevada had done against the Lobos the week prior.
It started on defense by Brown, a player often criticized for not playing with high effort on that side of the ball.
It transitioned to Brown, at times accused of focusing too much on his points, passing up two easy, uncontested points to help a teammate get his.
It ended with an athletic dunk from Furstinger, one of several Lobo role players trying to make an impact and one who hasn?t exactly been accused of being the team?s most athletic player in his three seasons at UNM.
It was a sequence that defines how good things can be for a team that says it still believes it can win the league.
?It?s all about a mindset for us,? said Brown, who scored a game-high 25 points to go with nine rebounds and seven assists. ?We already know what we?re capable of. I think everyone who watches us knows what we?re capable of when we decide to play the right way.?
That right way has been hit and miss for a team that started the season with a three-game win streak, then alternated wins and losses ? Nov. 18 through Dec. 28 ? followed by a potential season-defining road win Jan. 1 at preseason league favorite San Diego State, only to follow that with a three-game losing streak.
?I have to do a better job with this team that every team in this league is the top team,? Lobos coach Craig Neal told the Journal on Saturday. ?Anybody on any given Sunday, as they say in the movie, can beat them. I?ve got to do a better job of preparing my guys that we play every minute of every possession and they did that (in Saturday?s win at CSU).?
When playing in the ?team bubble,? as Neal has referred to often this season, the Lobos have looked capable of being as good as any team in what has proven to be a down MWC.
The ?team bubble? doesn?t mean Brown (17.5 points per game this season) and senior forward Tim Williams (18.3 points per game) aren?t still going to be the Lobos leading scorers almost every night the rest of the season. To beat the Broncos, it would be hard to imagine the duo not needing huge nights like they had in a pair of wins last season against Boise State in which Brown averaged 28.0 points, hit eight 3-pointers and made 20 free throws while Williams averaged 19.5 points, 6.5 rebounds and hit 17 free throws.
