What a tough way to end the season, a shot falls of the side of the rim to force overtime and the Lobos fall 69 to 66 at Cal in the Master Card NIT First Round Game. The key stat of the game like it has been all season is the free throw shooting, or in this case, lack thereof. Many teams will not win many games shooting 45% (9-20) from the line. But I do not want to dwell on the negative from this game and ruin the great season the Lobos hadâ?¦.

If I were to tell you the Lobos would be fighting for the MWC crown and spot in the NCAAâ??s you would have ran me out of town, like you should do with Marky â??The Enemyâ?? Smith. The Lobos finished the season with a good mark at 24-9, single digits in the loss column after last year, I thought would never happen, damn I would have been happy with a .500 record, but the Lobos and especially JR Giddens bought into what the coaching staff was telling them and the Lobos ran with it and turned this season into a good one, despite the set back tonight. This team set the foundation for many years to came, because â??this coaching staff is not going anywhereâ?? Steve Alford Senior Night.

JR Giddens, Darren Prentice and Jamaal Smith deserve a ton of credit as they have set this foundation for the University of New Mexico basketball program to take the next step. After last year know one in the land of the Lobos could tell me how this team would respond, they did more then we thought imaginable. I could go on and on about how this team came together like a, Band of Bothers and how they become a family on and off the court. There is one guy that came out this year with nothing to lose a clean slate and all the talent in the world, JR Giddensâ?¦.

I recall very clearly when Alford was first hired, he was asked a question about, how he would deal with JR and his past, he simply answered everyoneâ??s on a clean slate and they need to prove them selves, if they want to play for this team. JR took advantage of that and bought into what Alford put on the table and run with it. He discovered a second or even a third light under his new head coach. JR stated to play like we thought he would last year, He constantly put up monster numbers all year and even more so in conference play. He Lead MWC in Scoring and boards, a coach nor a fan could ask for much more from a senior. JR has made a strong case to be a first round pick in the draft. A spot none of us thought he would make, but he did and good for him, I a glad he proved us wrong.

Finally after a fun, enjoyable season I present to you my

Red Menace Menâ??s Basketball Awards:

TRM 6^th man:

Chad Toppert

TRM Home Grown Boy:

Darren Prentice

TRM Dirty Worker:

Roman Martinez

TRM Trap Breaker:

Jamaal Smith

TRM Freshmen of the Year:

Dairese Gary

TRM Most Improved: