National Basketball Association
BOXSCORE | RECAP
New Mexico 75, Long Beach St. 68
When: 4:20 PM ET, Thursday, March 15, 2012
Where: Rose Garden, Portland, Oregon
Officials: # Mike Eades, # Darron George, # Tim Nestor
Attendance: 17050

New Mexico 75, Long Beach State 68: Drew Gordon had 18 points and 13 rebounds and Kendall Williams scored 16 points as the Lobos downed the 49ers in West Regional play in Portland.

Hugh Greenwood scored 12 points and Demetrius Walker added 11 for fifth-seeded New Mexico (28-6), which advances to face Louisville on Saturday.
Casper Ware scored 17 points, James Ennis added 13 points and T.J. Robinson had 12 points and 14 rebounds for 12th-seeded Long Beach State (25-9).

The 49ers had battled back from an eight-point deficit to take a brief 61-59 lead on a fast-break slam by Ennis, before Williams hit the go-ahead 3-pointer with 4:38 remaining. Williams scored seven points during a 12-5 spurt that saw New Mexico take a 71-66 with 39 seconds to play.

The Lobos rolled off eight consecutive points to take a 51-43 lead with just under 12 minutes left. Greenwood and Phillip McDonald hit back-to-back 3-pointers and Gordon scored on the inside.

Long Beach State responded with six straight points as part of a 14-6 surge and tied the score at 57 on a basket by Eugene Phelps with 6:06 to play.
Mike Caffey added 11 points on 5-for-6 shooting for Long Beach State, which made just 8 of 14 free throws. New Mexico was 18 of 24 from the line.

The Lobos finished the first half on a 10-3 run to take a 33-29 halftime advantage. The teams combined for 22 first-half turnovers, 12 by Long Beach State.

GAME NOTEBOOK:
Long Beach State guard Larry Anderson (knee) played but was largely ineffective and scored just five points … New Mexico’s bench had a 26-15 edge in scoring … The 49ers were just 4-of-16 from 3-point range … Lobos guard Tony Snell went scoreless despite being the team’s third-leading scorer.
Top Game Performances
 
Long Beach St.   New Mexico
Casper Ware 17 Scoring Drew Gordon 18
Casper Ware 6 Assists Kendall Williams 5
T.J. Robinson 14 Rebounds Drew Gordon 13
Casper Ware 5 Free Throws Made Demetrius Walker 6
James Ennis 2 Steals Kendall Williams 2
James Ennis 1 Blocks Cameron Bairstow 2
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Points FG% 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA Assists Rebounds Blocks Steals Turnovers
Long Beach St. 68 43.1 4-16 8-14 13 34 2 6 15
New Mexico 75 50.0 7-21 18-24 19 30 7 6 14