LAS CRUCES, N.M. – After winning seven WAC regular season titles and ten WAC tournament titles since 2007, fans in Las Cruces have become accustomed to winning.
 
Despite a slow start to conference play, the Aggies have been working tirelessly behind the scenes. Now, fans are starting to see a glimpse at the fruits of their labor. Following a win over Stephen F. Austin on Wednesday, NM State (9-14, 2-9 WAC) picked up its second straight conference win – this time over Seattle U (16-8, 7-4 WAC) 82-75 on Saturday night.
 
NM State finished the night with six Aggies in double figures for the first time in five years as Anthony Roy's 15 points paced the Crimson & White for the fifth time this season. After finishing with nine points on Wednesday, Xavier Pinson put together his sixth double-digit scoring effort in the last seven games – finishing with 11. DaJuan Quaye Gordon (14), Issa Muhammad (12), James Beck (12) and Doctor Bradley (10) also tallied 10-plus against the Redhawks.
 
Meanwhile, the Aggie defense stifled a Redhawk offense that shot just 36.6% while going 11-37 from beyond the arc. The Aggies also limited the Seattle U bench to just seven points while also giving up just two points on fastbreaks. On the other hand, the NM State bench posted 25 of its 82 points while scoring 23 points off of fastbreak opportunities.
 
FIRST HALF

• NM State saw its opponent take a quick lead once again as Seattle U rattled off nine unanswered points following the opening tip. However, this time the Aggies had an answer. That answer came in the form of James Beck who scored the first five Aggie points, including an and-one that immediately injected energy into the Aggies despite being behind by five points on the scoreboard.
• From there, the Aggies seem to settle in as they would eventually go on an 11-2 run to take a 22-19 lead after Xavier Pinson, who came off the bench for the second straight outing, got a trio of triples to fall. This would end up being Pinson's only made field goals of the night.
• James Beck came up big once again late in the half as his second and-one of the period capped off a 9-2 run that pushed the Aggies lead to nine points with 2:43 to play. This would be the largest lead the Aggies held during the first 20 minutes of action.
• Ultimately, the Aggies went 15-24 from the field to shoot 62.5% in the first half on their way to posting their highest first-half scoring total since Dec. 22 when the Aggies scored 46 points in the opening period against North Carolina A&T.

 
SECOND HALF

• The Redhawks' leading scorer Cameron Tyson began to assert himself early in the second half as he knocked down a pair of triples to pull SU within five points of the Aggies.
• NM State would then receive a boost from Anthony Roy and DaJuan Quaye Gordon who combined to stack seven consecutive points – helping the Aggies push their lead to double digits for the first time of the night.
• The advantage would hover around 10 points for the Aggies until a second 7-0 run that concluded with a bucket from Roy gave NM State a 17-point lead with nine minutes left on the clock.
• The Aggies would maintain complete control until about the four-minute mark when Seattle U put together a 12-2 run to make things interesting as the gap was just four points with just over a minute remaining on the clock.
• Greg Heiar's squad was able to stay composed while being able to rely on something that had hindered them in the previous two outings – making free throws. In the last two games, the Aggies went 22-40 from the charity stripe. Tonight, the Aggies made 85% of their free throw attempts (22-26) and used that to seal the deal against one of the WAC's top contenders.

 
NUMBERS OF NOTE

• Six Aggies scored in double digits (Roy, Muhammad, Beck, Bradley, Pinson, Gordon) for the first time since Jan. 12, 2017, when they did so against Grand Canyon.
• For the second consecutive game, NM State maintained the lead for over 30 minutes of play (30:02) – a feat it had yet to accomplish in WAC play prior to Wednesday.
• The win over Seattle U marked the first time that the Aggies won a Saturday game this season.
• Once again, Anthony Roy was a primary contributor for the Aggies in the scoring column – scoring double digits for the fourth consecutive game.
• On his birthday, Issa Muhammad finished the night with his second straight outing of 10 or more points.
• Xavier Pinson's 11 points marked his 17^th double-digit scoring effort of the season.
• James Beck scored a season-high 12 points – all of which came during the first half of Saturday's game.
• DaJuan Quaye Gordon directly impacted winning for the second straight game as he finished with his second double-figure scoring night in as many games. Gordon also turned in a career-high three blocks on the night.
• For the first time this season, Doctor Bradley scored double digits in back-to-back games. Tonight's production came in his third straight game in the starting lineup.
• As a team, the Aggies finished with 22 made free throws - one shy of their season-high. Tonight was, however, their best night from a free throw percentage aspect (.846)

 
UP NEXT
The Aggies now pay a visit to Phoenix, Ariz., where they will take on Grand Canyon in the first of two meetings this season. The Aggies and Lopes will tip off at 7 p.m. MT on Wednesday, Feb. 8.