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New Mexico beats Colorado State in MWC clash

Jan 24, 2013 - 4:31 AM Albuquerque, NM (Sports Network) - Tony Snell had 23 points, and 15th-ranked New Mexico continued its best start ever in Mountain West Conference play with a 66-61 triumph over Colorado State.

Chad Adams tallied 13 points for the Lobos (17-2, 4-0 MWC), who won their fourth straight game. This is their first time starting 4-0 in conference play since 1992. Also, it's the first time New Mexico has started 17-2 since the 1977-78 team opened 21-2, on the way to a 24-4 season.

Colton Iverson totaled 15 points and 14 rebounds for Colorado State (15-4, 2-2), which had won its previous two games. Wes Eikmeier scored 20 and Dorian Green netted 14 for the Rams.

New Mexico held a 22-point lead with about 12 minutes left, but the Rams surged in the late going and closed it to 64-61 on a Eikmeier 3-pointer with 8.2 seconds left.

Snell made two free throws a second later to seal the outcome.

"I think it might be a little natural sometimes when you get up by that much to kind of ease up just a little bit," Adams said. "Coach has really been drilling it into us that we can't do that, that we can't let teams back in the game, especially a team like Colorado State because they could be deadly when it comes to clutch time."

The Lobos scored the final eight points of the opening half to expand to a 35-25 advantage. The gap widened to 54-32 following a layup from Kendall Williams with 11:59 remaining.

Green then scored 11 points during the ensuing 20-5 spurt.

Game Notes

The Lobos have won all six home games in The Pit against CSU under Steve Alford ... New Mexico leads the all-time series, 70-43 ... The Rams converted just 13-of-23 free throw attempts.