SEATTLE, Wash. – New Mexico State sophomore Pascal Siakam notched his 10th straight double-double with 21 points and 11 rebounds as he led the Aggies to a 68-60 win over Seattle U Thursday night at KeyArena.
 
The Aggies (12-8, 4-1) picked up their third straight win over Seattle U, while the Redhawks (7-11, 1-3) lost for the fourth time in the last five games.
 
"This was a grind and one of those games where you're just thankful to get away with a W," said NM State head coach Marvin Menzies.
 
The Redhawks held a two-point lead with a minute left in the first half when Aggie sophomore Jalyn Pennie buried a 3-pointer with 47 seconds left to take a 23-22 lead. Then after a defensive stop, Pennie buried a baseline triple that went through at the halftime buzzer for a 26-22 advantage at intermission.
 
The Aggies never trailed again.
 
"Jalyn was big time," said Menzies. "He hit the first 3, then I called a play for him to end the half and he hit it. Kudos to Jay."
 
NM State jumped out to a 15-point lead with a 17-6 run in the first eight minutes of the second half, as Siakam got free to score eight of the 17 points. Siakam posted 18 of his 21 points after intermission.
 
The Redhawks wouldn't go without a fight on their home floor. After trimming the Aggie lead to 10, Seattle's Jadon Cohee put in a layup followed by Manroop Clair's 3-pointer to cut the advantage to 63-58 with 93 seconds left.
 
However, the Aggies had a strong night at the free throw line and closed the game hitting five of their six free throws down the stretch to seal the game. That was part of NM State's 22-of-26 performance from the charity stripe.
 
In addition to Siakam's 21 points with a blocked shot and three steals, Ian Baker collected 15 points that included hitting 8-of-8 from the foul line. Pennie added 12 points with two assists and two steals.
 
SU was paced by the 16 points and seven boards by Westendorf and Cohee's 15 points.
 
NM State shot 47 percent from the floor, hitting 21-of-45, while Seattle U made 51 percent from the field canning 23-of-45. But it was the Aggies dominance on the boards that played a big role, with NM State holding a 37-15 advantage.
 
The boards helped the Aggies overcome a 24 turnover night that kept the game close. But defensively, NM State forced 17 Redhawk turnovers.
 
"I don't know why we were so careless with the ball," Menzies stated. "It's kind of a tricky defense to play against and you think something's there then all of the sudden you throw the ball and it's not. It's still no excuse for 24 turnovers, but we'll clean it up."
 
NM State travels from Seattle to Bakersfield, Calif., on Friday to meet WAC co-leader CSU Bakersfield. The Roadrunners (14-5, 4-0) defeated UT Rio Grande Valley 77-58 on Thursday. Tipoff is set for 8 p.m. on Saturday at the Icardo Center.