Senior Joel Jones tied his career high with 25 points.

The Hornets, who had a chance to pull within three points with 1:05 remaining in the game, were whistled for 15 for more fouls than New Mexico (31-16). As a result, the Lobos attempted 22 more free throws than the Hornets, converting 30-of-39 opportunities from the charity stripe, including each of their last 13 free-throw attempts during the final 4:54 of the contest. Sacramento State was whistled for 21 fouls in the second half as New Mexico was already in the bonus just 6:22 into the second half.

After New Mexico went into halftime with a 37-26 lead, Sacramento State opened the second half on an 18-8 run to close to within one point (45-44) of the Lobo lead with 12:03 to play. After Chiotti converted two free throws, senior Joel Jones buried a three-pointer to tie the score at 47-47 with 9:39 left in the game.

The Lobos pushed the lead back to seven as the team went on an 11-4 run with six of those points coming from Tindall. Sacramento State clawed back to within three points of the Lobo lead (60-57) with 3:18 remaining in the contest, but that was as close as the Hornets would get the rest of the way. New Mexico knocked down 12 free throws during the final 2:34 of the contest as its 14-point margin of victory was also the largest lead of the second half.

Jones finished with a career-high tying 25 points for Sacramento State – including 14 second-half points – as the senior finished the game 10-for-20 from the field, including 5-of-11 from beyond the three-point line. Senior Joseth Dawson added 12 points as no other Hornet finished with more than seven points. The Hornets, who never had a lead during the contest, had senior Cedric Thompkins (7:08) and Dawson (0:28) both foul out of the game.

Sacramento State (3-3), which opened the game by missing 14 of its first 15 field-goal attempts, shot just 33.3 percent (22-66) for the game. The Hornets outrebounded the Lobos, 39-38, and were aided by seven three-pointers, including one from Dawson and freshman Alex Bausley. Sacramento State went 12-of-17 from the free-throw line, while making just three appearances at the charity stripe during the entire first half.

New Mexico (3-3), which scored 36 points in the paint, 30 from the free-throw line, and just 11 from the perimeter, shot 46.8 percent (22-47) from the field and 76.9 percent (30-39) from the free-throw line. Chiotti, who played all but two minutes during the contest and recorded a game-high 10 rebounds, went 6-of-9 from the field and 12-of-16 from the free-throw line. Tindall scored 15 of his 22 points in the second half and went 10-of-11 from the charity stripe. New Mexico received just 10 points from their non-starters while the Hornets received 23 points of production from their bench.

Bausley finished with five points, one assist, one steal and a team-best eight rebounds for Sacramento State despite playing just 17 minutes. Senior Tony Champion saw his streak of consecutive field goals made end at 14 as the senior finished 2-for-5 from the field with seven points and five rebounds. The Hornets had 15 offensive rebounds which they turned into 11 second-chance points.

New Mexico began the game by jumping out to a quick 15-4 lead. In fact, the Hornets had just four points through the first 10 minutes of the game before Jones hit a three-pointer to bring the team within eight points of the Lobo lead (15-7) with 9:55 to play.

Another three-pointer by Jones brought the Hornets back within six (23:18) at the 6:35 mark before the Lobos responded with an 8-0 run over the next five minutes to take their largest lead of the first half at 15 points (35-20). Sacramento State scored six of the half’s final eight points as New Mexico went into the break with a 37-26 lead.

Sacramento State returns to action on Thursday, Dec. 11, as the team hosts the Gaels of Saint Mary’s at 7 p.m. inside the Hornets Nest. The Hornets and Gaels have not hooked up since Nov. 28, 2001, when Saint Mary’s defeated Sacramento State, 78-74. The Saint Mary’s contest is the first game of a stretch in which Sacramento State will play seven of its next 10 games at home.