GLENDALE, Ariz. - Two-hundred and seventy days. Or, just a shade under nine months.
That's how long it had been since the NM State men's basketball team last took the court. Sunday night in Glendale - just about 30 miles away from their relocation site of the Arizona Grand - the new-look Aggies retook the court for their first action of what is sure to be a wild 2020-21 season.
Clayton Henry showed what he can do when fully healthy. Donnie Tillman announced his presence to Aggie faithful around the nation with a fine performance. Jabari Rice was, well, Jabari Rice.
But at the end of the night it was Las Cruces' favorite son - Johnny McCants - who sealed the deal for the Aggies.
Trailing by one with 60 seconds remaining in regulation, the Aggies turned to McCants to deliver them to the promised land. The senior did so with a driving two-handed dunk to give his squad the lead before vanquishing Arizona Christian for good with a put-back layup off of his own free throw miss in the closing seconds as the Aggies claimed an 83-77 win over the Firestorm Sunday night at the ACU Events Center.
The Firestorm, who are currently ranked ninth in the NAIA national poll, showed little fear in what was an exhibition match for it and as a result the Aggies had to come back with a little fearlessness of their own to extend the nation's longest active winning streak to 20 games.
FIRST HALF
• Coming out of the gates a little shaky to start, NM State turned the ball over on each of its first two possessions and watched the Firestorm net five of the first seven points of the game. From there, however, the Aggies found their footing.
• The long ball was what sparked an 11-0 NM State run which began at the 16:11 mark of the frame. Wilfried Likayi, who was making his Aggie debut, started the display of downtown shooting by slinging in a triple for his first NM State bucket. Henry and fellow senior Evan Gilyard II followed up with trifectas of their own before Likayi converted a jumper in the lane off of a fine pass from Will McNair.
• Up 13-5 with 14:53 to go in the half, the Aggies kept their foot on the gas pedal and stretched their lead to double-digits. A driving score by Rice with 8:24 on the clock hiked the visitors' edge to 11, 21-10, but the Firestorm turned to its own big three to whittle away at its deficit.
• Robby Wilson and Angelo Johnson each drained three-pointers while De'Ron Kyle opted for an old-fashioned three point play as part of a 9-2 ACU surge that cut the Aggies' lead down to 23-19 with 6:21 left in the half.
• Henry ended the Firestorm scoring surge with his second triple of the half at the 5:04 mark. Later on it was Rice who pushed his team's advantage to double-digits yet again with another layup.
• Up 32-22 with 2:28 to go in the frame, the Aggies fell victim to an 8-2 ACU spurt powered by Dominic Gonzalez who had five in that stretch. That trimmed NM State's edge to 35-30 at the break.
SECOND HALF
• It looked as through the Aggies were primed to run away with things once the final frame got going. Likayi capped a 7-0 NM State run through the first 2:23 of the half with another jumper in the painted are to push the Aggies' lead to 42-30, but the Firestorm weren't even close to finished.
• An 18-6 run by the home team over the next 6:02 cut the Aggies' lead all the way down to a single point, 48-47. Wilson put in eight points during that ACU spree.
• Again it was Henry who stopped the bleeding for NM State, starting a 7-0 run with another downtown splashdown. After a pair of Tillman free throw makes, the Aggies' lead stood at 55-47 with 10:49 to go but Johnson dragged the Firestorm back into it from there.
• ACU's point guard scored each and every point for the home team during its 11-2 run following Tillman's free throw swishes. That put the Aggies at a 60-59 disadvantage with 7:06 left, but set the stage for an exciting finish.
• It was the Aggies' turn to go on a one-man offensive spurt and they went to junior guard C.J. Roberts who netted seven in a row for NM State. His three-pointer with 5:32 to go gave NM State a 66-63 advantage but Gonzalez answered with a long ball of his own to provide one of the five deadlocks through the last 5:02.
• Tillman was the Aggies' lone source of offense through a stretch of 1:45. His dunk to knot matters at 68-all started a stretch of eight-straight points for the Detroit, Mich., product. It was Tillman's strong finish in the lane with 2:05 left that put the Aggies on top 74-72.
• Kyle answered an uncontested layup by Rice with a three-pointer that put the Firestorm back up by one, 77-76, with one minute left but McCants' dunk with 45 seconds left and subsequent block of a Kyle layup try helped NM State avert disaster.
• Five of McCants' eight points came in the final 45 seconds of the game as did three of his eight rebounds.
KEY PERFORMERS/STATISTICS OF NOTE
• Back at full health and showing it off, Henry netted a career-high 20 points on 7-of-11 shooting to lead the way for the Aggies. Tillman chipped in 15 to go along with four rebounds and one of the Aggies' five blocked shots while Rice ended his night one rebound shy of a double-double (14 points, nine rebounds).
• McCants also flirted with a double-double, going for eight points, seven rebounds, a trio of assists and a blocked shot.
• By greatly reducing their turnover total in the second half, the Aggies managed to get the job done on the road. After committing 11 turnovers in the opening frame, NM State threw the ball away only four times over the last 20 minutes of action.
• Arizona Christian possessed some players who presented the Aggies with a bunch of problems Sunday night. Johnson was foremost among them as he netted a game-high 26 points on a 9-of-18 showing from the field. Johnson also dished out a game-best six assists.
• Both Gonzalez and Kyle finished their nights with 16 points apiece while Wilson posted 14 for the Firestorm who shot .429/.419/.800 for the game.
• Dating back to Dec. 17, 2019, NM State has won 20-straight games. That is tied with Dayton, who does not play its first game until Friday, Dec. 5, for the second-longest active winning streak in all of NCAA Division I men's basketball. UC San Diego, which is in its first year as an NCAA Division I program in 2020-21, has won 22-straight games dating back to last season.
• With another win in their next contest, the Aggies will tie the program record for consecutive wins (21). That streak has stood since 1937-38 when NM State was under the direction of head coach Jerry Hines.
• Thanks to the win, NM State also hiked its streak of road victories to nine dating back to last season. That ranks as the fifth-longest road winning streak in the nation as of this writing.
COMING UP NEXT
• With a chance to tie the program's longest winning streak (21 games), the Aggies have a short turnaround before their next contest. NM State's next action comes Tuesday night at 7:30 p.m. at the PHHacility in Phoenix when it takes on NAIA adversary Benedictine Mesa.
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