LAS CRUSES, NM -
Louisiana Tech had their 18-game winning streak come to an end on Saturday night as the Bulldogs fell to conference foe New Mexico State 78-60 at the Pan American Center.
LA Tech (26-4, 16-1 WAC) quickly jumped on NMSU (20-10, 13-4 WAC) to start the game, opening up a 23-13 advantage after a made jumper by Raheem Appleby who led the team with 13 points.
The offense of the Bulldogs then went cold for the next five minutes, allowing the Aggies to use a 15-0 run to claim the 28-23 lead.
Appleby hit a three-pointer at the 6:13 mark to end the drought, but NMSU went 13-of-17 from the charity stripe to help give them a 43-34 lead into halftime.
Two quick dunks by the Aggies out of the break gave them a 13-point edge, but the Bulldogs pecked away at the lead, using a 12-3 run to cut the deficit to within four, 50-46 with 12:59 to play.
However, NMSU mustered multiple runs the rest of the way to give LA Tech their first WAC loss of the season.
Turnovers plagued the Bulldogs all night, giving up a total of 17, and were outrebounded 40-26.
Alex Hamilton was the only other Bulldog in double-figures with 11 points.
New Mexico State was led by Daniel Mullings who had a game-high 23 points along with eight rebounds.