Tuesday, March 4, 1997 | 11:59 a.m.
The No. 14 Lobos got 22 points from Lamont Long and 19 from Royce Olney in opening the defense of their WAC tournament title Tuesday night with a 103-70 rout of San Jose State.
Playing in the last of four opening round games at the UNLV campus arena, New Mexico spurted to a 10-2 lead and never looked back against the outmanned Spartans.
It was a performance that coach Dave Bliss said should help the Lobos get a NCAA tournament bid.
"The way we played tonight we deserve to be one of the 64 teams," Bliss said.
From the time Clayton Shields hit a 3-pointer on the first shot of the game, New Mexico was in command. The Lobos scored the first eight points of the game, then closed the first half with a 13-3 spurt to take a 52-26 halftime lead.
"The biggest difference was the way we played as a team," Olney said. "Sometimes we get carried away with one-on-one stuff. That was the key, playing together."
New Mexico hardly looked like a team that was 4-6 on the road coming into the tournament.
The Lobos set a tournament record by making 42 field goals and almost broke its own tournament record of 104 points, set last year against Fresno State.
"We don't have as much trouble playing away from home as we do passing the ball and playing offense away from home," Bliss said. "Our offense has gone into a deep freeze on the road."
New Mexico (23-6) shot 66 percent for the half, scoring on the inside at will against the smaller Spartans. The Lobos could do little wrong, making 7 of 12 3-pointers in the half, including three by Shields.
Oliver Saint Jean led San Jose, which finished the season 13-14, with 23 points, while Tito Addison had 15.
New Mexico seemed right at home in the UNLV campus arena, where it will meet Hawaii in a quarterfinal game Thursday. Hawaii had a first round bye.
Bliss substituted liberally, pulling most of his starters early in the second half.
About the only drama in the second half came was decided when Chris Paddock hit a shot inside with about a minute left to put New Mexico over the 100-point mark.
New Mexico, which finished third in the WAC Mountain division behind Utah and Tulsa, was the only ranked team in play on the opening day of the postseason tournament.
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