Jones' rebound bucket lifts New Mexico St over Davidson

Dec 23, 2017, 05:41 pm

HONOLULU -- Jemerrio Jones grabbed an offensive rebound and scored with eight seconds left in the game and New Mexico State used a late run to pull out a 69-68 victory over Davidson on Friday in the opening round of the Diamond Head Classic.

Reserves Eli Chuha and Keyon Jones scored 13 each to pace the Aggies (10-2), who used an 11-4 spurt over the final 2:33 to pull out the win. A.J. Harris scored 12 and Zach Lofton chipped in with 10 points and eight rebounds for NMSU.

Peyton Aldridge scored 26 to lead the Wildcats (4-5), while Jon Axel Gudmundsson added 11 points, nine rebounds and five assists.

Harris' jumper gave New Mexico State a 49-45 lead with 12:27 left to play, but Aldridge scored 7 in an 11-0 run and Davidson pulled ahead 56-49 with 7:35 left. Zach Lofton ended the 5:22 dry spell for the Aggies with two free throws to make it 56-51. Another Aldridge jumper gave the Wildcats a 64-58 lead with 3:07 left to play. Jones buried a 3 to cut the deficit to 64-61 and Lofton's layup with 1:55 remaining pulled NMSU within a point. The teams traded baskets and then Lofton nailed a jumper to give the Aggies a 67-66 lead. Aldridge scored on a layup to put the Wildcats back out in front with 21 seconds to play. Jones rebounded Lofton's miss and scored and Aldridge missed a 3 at the buzzer.